Thrill Of the Chase
by Dophne
Summary: The Avengers have one job. Take down Ironman. They have been at it for years. Steve might just be out of his depths...just a little bit. Not that Stark had to know. Especially when he has to ask the man to help even if he doesn't want to. Just a warning: Rated T for now but might become M.
1. Chapter 1: Call Stark

**Chapter One: Call Stark.**

Captain Steve G. Rogers stood outside the rundown apartment building waiting for the signal. The FBI were following a lead to the most renown hacker of the time who called himself the Ironman. Steve scoffed at the name thinking it was a ridiculous to give a hacker a name. All it did was stroke the man's ego. It was like a small piece of encouragement and evidence that the government not only saw him as a threat but are also scared of him. Thus defining Ironman as a bully and Steve hated bullies above everyone else. Worse, Ironman was nothing but a cowardly one. He hated his kind the most. Bullies who hid in the shadows.

A small light flashed from the top of the roof top, once, twice and then a third. They had the green light. He was moving in. His heart rate sped up as they climbed the stairs of the old run down building entering every room. He has been searching for Ironman for years now and never have they gotten so close. The more time passes the more it ate away at him. Made him feel like he failed. He was the commander of this search team. Ironman was his catch. And now he finally got him.

Well, he thought he did. He stood in the center of the penthouse on the top floor and no sign of the hacker. He growled in frustration until he turned towards a corner and a camera flash blared through the room before disappearing. Before he could do anything his partner, Bucky, moved forward grabbed the camera into his left hand and crushed it.

Bucky was his best friend, his work partner and his lover. He stood by Steve's side for years. Followed him into this profession claiming that someone had to look after Steve's back as he rushed headfirst into danger. It always made Steve smile and worry at the same time. Every night he would wonder if that maybe during this mission Steve would lose Buck forever. Especially since the agency began sending them both on different missions. The Captain knew that the Director, Nick Fury, was trying to slowly separate them but Steve refused to let the love of his life die while on a mission he is not there for.

"Hey Cap," Clint Barton came out from the shadows holding the broken camera.

"What do we got Hawkeye?" Steve asked the other blonde. Clint looked down at the crushed camera sheepishly before turning to glare at Bucky for ruining the only piece of evidence that could link them to Ironman. Steve was going to have to talk to Bucky about this afterwards. It does no good to embarrass someone in front of their teammates, especially someone as sensitive to social acceptance as Bucky.

"From what little I can gather from the broken camera—thanks Barnes—that it was connected to a small routing machine that sent the picture an unknown and untraceable server," Clint answered with a sigh. Steve watched as Clint tried to salvage the broken pieces that continued to fall apart in his hands.

"Better than nothing," Steve said, "can we track it? Can we get anything if we look into the unknown server?" Steve needed to know if this wall a dead end. Again.

"I don't know," Clint sighed, "it is worth a try. Though I can tell you that there is a big chance that this is a bust. Ironman works fast. He has probably gotten anything he wanted off that server and shut it down. The only person that might outwit him would be Stark but he hates working with the government."

"If its Stark we need," Steve replied, "then I will get us Stark. Just make sure we can do something. I do not want to look like a fool in front of that asshole. He is already a pompous ass. He will rub it in our faces that we still have not caught Ironman let alone got bested by him yet again. He would probably say it was child's play and call us incompetent." Steve heard Bucky punch a wall. They all hated working with Stark but to catch Ironman Steve was willing to bight the bullet.

* * *

"For a group of people who make it their mission to tell me off every chance you get, you sure do ask for my help a lot," the smug voice echoed through the conference room. The voice belonged to Tony Stark, who sat at the end of the table farthest away from any of the core Ironman team members. He leaned back into his chair and eyed them all with distrust and a little distain. It was a known fact that the Steve's team did not like Stark and that Stark did not like them back. But he needed him so they were willing to take part in his child's play to get him to cooperate.

"Well maybe if you wore a little less hair jell and sunglasses in shaded room we wouldn't hate you so much," Clint bit back. Stark just turned his head slightly in his direction but did not say anything.

"We did not call you here to point out how much you dislike us and how much we dislike you," Steve began.

"Oh no," Stark spat, "you do not get to decide how this plays out _Steven._ I set the rules. Your little band of Avengers, as the world like to call you, has nothing on me. I am here on my own vocation. I can decide at any time to withdraw my services if I so please. So let me say this again, I set the rules." Steve just nodded mutely. Stark smirked smug.

"So, tell me the juicy details," Stark sat back again getting himself comfortable. Steve looked at the man holding back a sigh. Making sure none of his team members retorted to their guest, Steve began explaining all they had on the hacker named Ironman. Steve watched Stark's expression change from concentration, to intrigue and dare he say a little fear. He explained the most recent event, how a picture was taken of him at the abandoned apartment complex and how it was sent to some unknown server. He then explained Stark's role in all of this.

"If I help you than I will work from here," Stark answered, "I don't want this coming back to me. I don't need a hacker breathing down my ass. Especially if he has been able to avoid getting caught for so long."

"Why Stark, scared for your money and wealth?" Barnes bit at the man across the room.

"No dumbass," Stark snarled back, "I run a multi-billion company. Imagine how many people I employ and how many people depend on me and my company to succeed for them to be able to put food on their tables? Do not get me wrong I do like my doe but if it was just me fine but if this…this Ironman decides to attach SI due to my involvement it is not just me I am putting on the line it is the lively hood of millions across the globe. So, like I said, you guys will have to deal with the fallout if anything goes wrong."

That shut everyone up. Steve felt a twinge of shame that they all thought the same thing. Turns out that Stark wasn't as selfish as they thought. Or, maybe, Stark was just using his employees as a way to not claim responsibility. That would be something he would do. Suddenly, Steve was not so ashamed anymore. People like Stark don't do nice. They don't do genuine concern for others.

* * *

Stark had taken over the whole IT department and some of the lab space in their building that same day. At first it bugged a lot of people due to Stark's demanding persona and him hijacking their daily routine and their space to do what he wanted. To make sure the space and time was not being wasted, Steve always had eyes on Stark, preferably someone from his team. Bruce seemed to have taken that task upon himself since he is the only one who gets most of the gibberish that Stark spews. Though, to Steve's annoyance, the two scientists started to become buddies. Stark only got a long with Bruce and for some reason that irked Steve. He hated that Stark was just going to use Bruce for his own gain and then dump him once he is finished. The man was too trusting for his own good.

"What is wrong Stevie?" Bucky came up behind him as he stood watching Stark move around the room chaotically with a large frown on his face.

"I hate having to depend on Stark for anything," Steve sighed, "I mean this is such a big hit and I cannot help but feel letting the egotist have a go against Ironman is a bad idea. Stark might even provoke Ironman to do something worse and bigger to one up the world's greatest genius."

"Well he an egotistical bastard who basically sleeps with anything that moves but he has the best mind in the world," Bucky responded with a shrug. Steve knew Bucky hated admitting something good about Stark but he was not wrong.

Stark was now taking a break. It was obvious since he took out a StarkTab and began tapping away. He was instructed that he could not use any of his tech for this project or any project connected to the FBI, which surprisingly Stark agreed to it. Though Steve did not feel an ounce of trust towards Stark to keep his word so with a deep sigh, Steve walked into the room.

"Stark," he called for the smaller man's attention.

"Hmm?" Stark did not even bother looking up from his tablet.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked.

"Making dinner plans," Stark replied finally looking up from his tablet, "why want to join me and honeybear?"

"Honeybear?" Bucky inquired his voice was mocking. Stark glared at Bucky.

"Don't ask if you do not like the answer, guard-dog," Stark hummed earning back a glare from Bucky. Steve sighed, today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Steve finally got back home to the sound of the television running and a quiet clank of dishes being put away. Steve smiled. Nat was probably putting dishes away while Clint watched his favorite sit-com. Steve was finally home. He no longer had to carry around his shield, which Clint always teases would have a star in the middle of it if it were real. It was a mental shield that allowed him to lead people in tight situations. Steve had tried to explain it to them once but got nowhere real fast.

Letting the keys drop onto the counter next to the door, Steve called into the apartment announcing his arrival. He knew the occupants of the apartment hated being startled and surprised so they all did their best to announce their presence. It was a thing that came to be after their tour in Iraq. They all had this fear of not knowing who was coming in through the door and whether or not they could be trusted.

"Dinner is in the oven," Nat spoke up from the kitchen doorway. She leaned against the door frame waiting for him to approach the kitchen before moving out of the way. Steve passed her patting her on the head in affection before grabbing the food from the oven. It was lasagna, and not just any lasagna, it was Clint's famous recipe. Steve smiled and took his offering to the small table behind the couch in the living room.

Taking a bite of the pasta Steve moaned in delight before shoveling it down rigorously. Clint bent his head and smiled pleased of Steve's reaction to his cooking. Then again Steve loved everything Clint made but lasagna had a special place in his heart.

Bucky came home a little later that day humming quietly a Russian song a foreign friend Steve never got to meet taught him. Steve got up from his place on the table to give Bucky a quick kiss which turned into a make out session on the kitchen counter.

"Hey Buck," Steve panted placing his forehead down onto Bucky's.

"Sup Punk," Bucky replied just out of breath as Steve was. Steve loved that Bucky always gave and took as much as he did. If Steve needed fiery passion than Buck lit the fire, if Steve needed calming touches then buck would always gently roam his hands over his body. God, Buck was perfect.

"You hungry?" Steve asked pulling away from Buck to get him his plate of food. The brunette still sat on the counter watching Steve bend down to get him his food. Steve smirked letting himself stay there for a little while longer since he knew Bucky was enjoying the show.

"I am hungry for something alright," Bucky's voice went deep and husky. Steve smirked getting back up and shoving the food into Bucky's hands.

"Someone is horny," Steve chuckled blushing a bit. He heard Bucky grumbled about him being such a tease. Steve watched as Bucky dragged his plate to the table and began to eat the lasagna. Slowly Bucky's face shifted to pure ecstasy as he enjoyed the food.

"It can be a little creepy being watched while you eat," Bucky smiled up at Steve.

"Someone has to make sure you get food in your stomach, jerk," Steve replied. He turned to sit on the couch next to Clint and mindlessly began to watch the sit-com. Soon Bucky crawled into his lap and began demanding attention from Steve. He was such a needy man.

Steve sighed wrapping his arms around Bucky, stuffing his nose into Bucky's hair. Today was a long day. It always was when working with Stark. Hopefully, he can help bring Ironman to justice. It would finally bring some peace of mind and he could finally move on. But for now, he was going to enjoy being with Bucky.


	2. Chapter 2: The First Forty-Eight

**Chapter Two: The First Forty-Eight**

Tony took a bite from the large shawarma in his hands. Rhodey sat across from him with a small smile on his face. It always bugged Tony that his best friend spent half his time watching Tony eat. Taking another big bite from his own sandwich Tony reached over and grabbed his friend's still wrapped sandwich. The genius opened up the paper wrapping as if it was the most precious gift before shoving it ungraciously into his friend's hands. Rhodey blinked at him before looking down at his sandwich.

"I did not drive us all the way here for you to stare at me eating Honeybunches," Tony explained nonchalantly. A part of him wondered if Rhodey was tired of going out with him. Rhodey chuckled snapping Tony out of his thoughts. He sat there watching his friend laugh heartily and felt a little pride swelling in his chest. It was one of his favorite things to do, making Rhodey laugh even if it was unintentional. Tony smiled, this dinner was exactly what he needed. Though it would be the last for a few months since Rhodey was being sent out of the country tomorrow. Still, it kept his mind off of the horrible day working at the FBI.

"The Avengers asked me for help capturing Their current target," Tony shot out suddenly. His mouth worked faster than his brain sometimes.

"What! Tony why would you help the people who helped publicly shame you like they did," Rhodey growled. Tony sighed. He knew Rhodey wasn't going to like this. Not one bit.

"You know I have to," Tony whispered, "it's a matter of national importance that I aid them. I don't always have to like working with people that I end up working with. It's business. If I help then, maybe they would finally switch from the sucky Hammer Tech they use. I swear the FBI have a thing against me and my tech even when they know it's better than anyone else's. I bet Hammer is secretly collecting all the data the FBI accesses. They put their trust in the wrong people," Tony growled. They just love adding salt to the wound that they created. Well, it did not matter, it made it easier for him to upload JARVIS into the FBI systems without them even knowing it. Then again no one knew of JARVIS's existence.

"So basically you're going to do all their work for them and have them claim all the credit for it again," Rhodey's eyes burned with anger. The Ironman case was not the first nor will it be the last time the FBI or the Avengers asked him for help without any appreciation. Tony cared not for the glory of an accomplishment but the acknowledgment of his work.

There was a reason Tony hated the FBI. They had recruited him for a certain project and asked him. Being naive and trusting at the time, Tony jumped at the opportunity, and gift wrapped the wanted criminals within forty-eight hours of his involvement. The next day he received a letter of how he did not meet the requirements for the new team they dubbed the "Avengers Initiative". He remembers reading that they thought he wasn't a team player when practically taught every single agent under him all the techniques he used to help capture the assholes. Not only that, he went to try and validate their statements by anonymously interviewing SI employees about his sportsmanship only to get back raving compliments. Thinking they were a little biased and scared to lose their job, though he did put in the email that no one would get fired for speaking their mind unless they hindered the company, Tony spread the activity to other companies, including the government mind you, and they backed up all his employee's claims. So, not only did they slap that letter in his face they went the next day, held a press conference and claimed all his work as their own. Saying it was the "sheer brilliance" of their agents work that brought down the wanted fugitives.

Pepper had wanted to sue their asses, but Tony put his foot down saying they could have his victory. No one would believe he was involved anyways. Thus, the Avengers came to be without Tony Stark. None of the agents he worked with made it to the team but every time they requested his help it was a living nightmare. A reminder that not only do they want his help all the fucking time but are not willing to even consider putting him on the damn team.

"Look I get it. You would burn all their eyes out if you could, but you can't so stop being a sourdough. They are trying their best, and they are really good. I mean it. But they are exhausting their talent, time, and resources on the wrong person. It's not their fault they follow orders blindly. They think they know the whole story or that they know enough of the truth to think they are right, but they ignore that there is always hidden details, hidden truths. Even a different side. Everyone believes their cause is just. There are no exceptions," Tony ended the subject there. He could tell that Rhodey was deciding on whether or not to protest but instead just took a bite from his shawarma, finally.

"If we do not start seeing results, Mr. Stark than we will have to start looking elsewhere," Eyepatch spoke in his authoritative voice. Tony just rolled his eyes. It was just the second day for God's sake!

"We do know it has not even been forty-eight hours since I have been asked to join this case director," Tony pointed out in hopes that maybe he had forgotten.

"I am aware," Eyepatch replied unfazed.

"Well that is a really messed up set of expectations," Tony growled.

"You caught the others in less," Eyepatch replied, again, unfazed.

"Is this a game to you, Mr. Stark?" The Captain asked finally speaking up for the first time. Tony turned to glare at the man next to him. How stupid can they be to expect sudden results to pop out of thin air? Sometimes Tony wonders how he always ends up in these situations. Then again Eyepatch is probably just trying to make him sweat. The Captain also probably wants him gone as fast as possible. Fat chance.

"Everything is Blonde," Tony bit back. Seriously, if he did not look it, Tony would have assumed he was ninety by how obnoxious he is about how modern technology works.

"Plus, none of the goons I caught are anywhere near the level of intelligence that Ironman has," Tony spoke up, "I mean he planned his work knowing I would come after him. There are very few people who know I come in to help you, and he built his firewalls and safety nets expecting me to come after him. So forgive me if past methods don't work for smart people."

"Are you calling us stupid since we could not catch them without your help?" Barton hissed.

"I consider almost everyone who isn't me dumb to an extent," Tony shrugged in reply loving how Barton's and Barnes' eyes narrowed in anger. He just loved riling those two up. It made his time here a little more tolerable when Brucie-bear was not here to entertain him, like now. Doctor's appointment they told him when he asked.

"You pretentious pig," Barton growled. Now that was new. Guess Barton really hates being called stupid. Noted and filed away. Tony watched the Captain stiffen up as if waiting for an attack. The genius debated on whether or not to start a fight but decided it would make his life a little easier if he did not.

"I came off wrong," Tony responded slowly, "I am not saying you lot aren't smart cause you are or you would not be a part of this ridiculous team, but you have to understand that where I come from. I am almost always surrounded by scientists and successful businessmen and woman, but often none of them understand me. I have to talk to renown genius's to get a semblance of a conversation going about any topic in the science field. So when I call someone dumb doesn't mean they aren't smart...they just aren't my smart, get it?"

Surprisingly, Barton nodded. The anger flushed out of his system. Tony let out a breath that he did not know he was holding and so did the Captain if he might add.

"We are getting off topic here," Romanoff cut in, her voice cold.

"The point of this whole meeting was to intimidate me into getting results faster," Tony pointed out. He raised a hand when it looked like the Captain was going to argue, "it would have worked if I was...well not me. But I will concede that Ironman is alluding every jab I give him. Though, I am hot on his trail and am getting closer. So we will have him. Soon. I promise."

With that, Tony walked out the door of the conference room and out of the FBI headquarters.

The elevator doors of his building closed locking Tony into the now moving box. He let his head rest against the cool metal wall of the elevator listening to JARVIS talk. It was a tradition for Tony to go through his voicemail and sort out which of them he would like to get back to. He set times on his calendar as well as instructions to JARVIS on what to prepare for each response or meeting. Finally, the elevator dinged, the doors opened, and Tony was finally home.

"Dada!" a voice cried out from within the confines of the large room that the elevator opened up to. Tony smiled widely bending down watching his two-year-old son stumble towards him. He patiently waited until his child fell forward practically throwing himself into Tony's open arms.

"Hey there little pumpkin," Tony finally greeted picking up his restless son from the ground. Peter loved being carried around.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," a girl's voice came in from the kitchen side of the room. She was Peter's babysitter when he was away or working heavily in the workshop. Martha was her name, Tony never forgot. She had volunteered for the job after meeting Tony at a science convention in Las Vegas. It stumped the man that a woman would just jump at the job like that, especially one as smart and talented as her. Martha explained that she worked from home anyway, and taking care of Peter would be no problem since her hours were her own to set. Tony let her have the job. Not without an extensive background check of course.

"Hello Marty," a nickname Tony gave her a week into her job, "how has little peanut doing?"

"Quite well actually," Marty smiled proudly at Tony, "he has learned all his alphabets and knows how to spell a few words."

"Is that so?" Tony smiled back at both Peter and Marty. His son was touching is face playing with the goatee. Peter loved the physical contact. He had lost his parents in a plane crash and his immediate family to a shooting soon after. He was all that he had left.

"Of course! What did you expect from the son of Tony Stark?" Marty winked handing him a bottled of warmed milk. Tony took it only for it to be taken out of his hand by two little ones. He smiled watching his son pop the bottle into his mouth and began to suck. He truly was a smart boy.

"He is his own person you know?" Tony teased back. A part of him wanted to disconnect himself from Peter. He did not want his son to be seen as his little copy nor did he want him to feel like he was being overshadowed by his own father. Peter was brilliantly smart even for his age, and he was so proud of him. Though Tony would have loved him even if he was the dumbest kid of the litter. Peter was his light in this dark world, and he would make sure Peter got to live in it with no hindrance.

"Yes, I do. Pete is very much his own person. Though he definitely got your stubbornness," Marty laughed grabbing her bags she always comes with and stepped onto the elevator and waved goodbye to the two. Once she was gone, Tony turned with Peter still in his arms and made himself comfortable on the couch a few steps away. Peter turned around so he could watch the next episode of Star Trek with his father. It was a thing; Tony would always play an episode of Star Trek for Peter when he got him. He wanted his son to love it like he did who needed cartoons when you could explore the universe?

Peter fell asleep midway through the show though it looked like he kept fighting the impending slumber to continue watching the show. It always made Tony laugh how his son tried to stay awake as long as him but failed almost instantly.

Tony finished his show and went to bed himself.


	3. Chapter 3: Glimpse of the Soul

**Chapter Three:**

 **Glimpse of the Soul**

Steve watched Stark trot into the building from his desk. The man was still wearing his sunglasses while adorning a large smile that charmed almost anyone but him, really it was true. They caught each other's eyes and Stark made a bee-line straight for him. A part of him regretted letting his pride take control and challenge the man to come over here. Though he could do nothing about it now.

The clock struck twelve and Stark was in his office holding two cups of hot coffee. Raising an eyebrow, Steve watched Stark place the other one in front of him before closing the door to his office as well as the blinds and taking a seat. Stark took a sip from his coffee and waited for Steve to do the same.

Taking one large swing, Steve felt the burn of the hot liquid slide down his throat with only getting the after taste. It was sweet. A little too sweet for his liking, "Too sweet? I thought so, but most people do not like my straight black coffee approach to the holy liquid called coffee." It was as if the man could read his mind.

"Trying to bribe me with coffee, Stark?" Steve growled, "it way past nine, the time you were supposed to come in. You agreed to this time Stark, so please, for your sake, honor it."

"Wow, you go straight for the butter," Stark sighed, "I came in late today cause I had a major business meeting I could not avoid no matter what. I even used 'the world needs me excuse' on Pep but she just gave me her look, and I could do nothing but oblige."

"The look?" Steve asked a little curious. Stark never really dives into his personal life outside of the missions with any of the team members except for Bruce. A part of him began ease up with knowledge that Stark was warming up to him. Even if it was for Stark's own benefit.

"Yeah, you have it too, the I-don't-take-nor-believe-any-of-your-shit look," Stark drawled grabbing a paper and a pen from Steve's desk and began to write a few things down.

"Do I?" Steve raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that he did. Bucky always called it the deadlock. He always expressed that once you receive the deadlock you can never escape it until you fully satisfy the request given unto you by Steve Rogers.

"Oh don't start with me," Stark smirked, "I know you know what I am talking about. It says it all in your eyes. I bet Ironman would fold his services to you if you asked him with those puppy-dog eyes and an endless supply of the looks."

"On the subject of Ironman," Steve started noting the bitter expression that quickly passed Stark's face before fading away, "I apologize about yesterday's...meeting. I was against it but Director Fury insisted that we take this measure. Plus, I made an unnecessary comment that I believe was unwarranted. I truly apologize to you. It seems like we were peer pressuring you into a situation that you were uncomfortable in, and I believe that it was not needed. I sympathize with you, Ironman has been one of the hardest cases. So much so, that we worked on multiple large cases and closed them while this one still remained open. It is just frustrating and after so long we would hope for some results."

Stark was silent for a few minutes digesting the words Steve had spoken to him. It seemed that he was not expecting Steve's speech at all. Like he was not here to demand an apology. Steve figured Stark would want one, but the more he studied the man in front of him the more he realized that Stark not only did not expect it, he thought he did not _deserve_ it. Odd.

"Well, uh, back to work," Stark grumbled, "I just, um, wanted to give you an update. I think I am narrowing down on the location of Ironman's base of operations. Just to warn you though, we could get there but find almost nothing digitally. He is smart enough to have escape routes and once they are enacted there is no way to stop them."

"That is good news," Steve smiled, "real good news." Stark mumbled a goodbye and walked out the door.

* * *

"You _apologized_ to the egotist?" Bucky growled at Steve as the he stood in front of the glass, luckily sound proof door, of the tech room Stark was working in. A part of Steve could sympathize with Bucky's anger but a bigger part of him knew it was irrational and cruel to not apologize when it was due, even if you do not like the guy. Hell, Steve would apologize to Ironman if he had wronged him. But Stark was not Ironman and he had done nothing wrong but be his usual ass self trying to get the job done.

Suddenly Steve was now on Bucky's hit list. He loved the man but boy does he hold grudges. Especially since Stark had insulted him in front of the team a few missions back and he had nothing to shoot back at him. Ever since then, Stark had been public enemy number one one Bucky's list.

Bucky was not always like this. He remembered the times when he was a playful flirt. He could still see that sly easy smirk that adorned those lips. Still see the care free look in his eyes. Still see the kid who could not hold such anger and aggression towards anyone even those who wronged him.

Then the war happened and war...war changes everyone. Even Steve. Even Bucky. Did not mean he loved him any less. It just meant that their love had changed a lot over the years.

"Bucky," Steve sighed, "Stark is not the enemy here nor will he ever be. You need to let it go. Yesterday was uncalled for and I thought he came into my office to demand an apology so I gave it to him. I was not in the mood to fight and the more we cooperated with him the faster he leaves this place. Turns out, all he wanted was to give me an update. But even so, I would have apologized anyway."

"Sorry," Bucky looked down at his hands not really knowing what to do with himself. He came for a confrontation. Steve knew that. It was either him or Stark and he knew Bucky did not want to create a scene with the billionaire so he chose the former.

"Can't be so angry all the time and for so long," Steve sighed. It was not Stark's fault that Bucky could not let it go but it was his fault to instigate the insult in the first place. He knew where to hit where it hurt. That was always the problem. Stark was an ass with a sting. Though his stings are almost always lethal if you push him too far.

"I can be anything I fucking want to be," Bucky growled, trying again to instigate a fight. Steve sighed. He did not have time right now to satisfy Bucky's fury.

"I love you Buck," Steve said looking him in the eyes but he does initiate contact, "and we can discuss this in a more private matter. We are professional FBI agents Buck, act like it."

Bucky flinched and walked away with loud steps echoing down the hall. Steve sighed again letting his attention go back to the man in the room. Stark was not as black and white as he seemed and Steve, for some reason, wanted to find out all the different shades of grey that defined Tony Stark.

* * *

Steve came home to an empty apartment. It seemed that the rest of the occupants have taken a stand against him. They were all acting like children and Steve was not going to play a part in their tantrums. He could not understand why they had such issue with him apologizing to Stark at all, only one who looked genuinely grateful was Bruce.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts making Steve turn slowly towards the wooden barrier that separated him from the anonymous person behind it. Taking out his gun Steve walked up to the door and looked through the small opening.

It was Bruce. He was standing at the door looking around awkwardly waiting for Steve to reply. He looked like he was about to knock again, so Steve opened the door.

"Hey Bruce," Steve smiled at the man in front of him. Giving enough space for Bruce to enter the smaller man stumbled into the apartment.

"Hey Steve," Bruce replied standing in the doorway unmoving, "I was wondering if you wanted to go and get some tea with me."

"Tea? Is that your way of asking if I want to go get beers?" Steve teased and Bruce laughed. Steve was still unsure why Bruce was here. Out of all the members, Bruce was the most reclusive one. Kept everyone at arm's length, except Stark which again Steve felt a little pang of annoyance. Still, it was not a regular occurrence for Bruce to ask Steve to hang out and Steve felt the need to accept.

"You could have all the beer you like but I don't drink. I am not such a nice drunk," Bruce replied shrugging waiting for Steve's reply.

"Lead the way," Steve grabbed his leather jacket from the coat rack. Bruce smiled opening the door again.

This night was cooler than its proceeding nights allowing Steve to draw his jacket a little closer to him. Bruce passed him and began moving towards a pub a few blocks away. It was a known spot that Bruce goes to have tea if he was to join in the groups drinking escapades. They entered the building and the smell of smoke and alcohol hit Steve like a welcoming gift. They weaved their way to one of the farthest booths from the door nodding at the bartender as they passed. It was their booth. The perfect spot to see the whole room. Paranoia after coming back from the war, Clint couldn't trust anyone not to try and sneak up on them.

"So, what's up Bruce?" Steve smiled as his jug of beer was set in front of him while the other waitress poured Bruce his tea.

"I came to thank you for the apology on behalf of Tony," Bruce replied making Steve pause mid sip. He put his beer down.

"Why couldn't the man thank me himself," suddenly that annoyance was back. Just when he thought Stark was a better man then he led on to be.

"He...Steve I have known Tony for years and have been his friend for only a short while," Bruce started, "He does not trust a lot of people and the facade he upholds on a daily basis to the world is...a defense mechanism. Especially, at the FBI. You know what they did to him. I am surprised he even comes back to help. The point is you may never hear a thank you because he does not trust to let the mask he wears drop around you. Believe me, I have seen it."

"I will believe it when I see it. He could just be playing you, you know?" Steve pressed at his friend letting the worry seep into his voice.

"I can make my own decisions Steve," Bruce smiles, "plus, I know you saw something today to contradict the image you have in your head. It is why James is so mad at you."

"God, I don't know why Buck has such a vendetta against Stark," Steve sighed rubbing his eyes. He knew what Bruce was saying was true and now he can no longer look at Stark the same way, ever. Bucky has so much pent up anger and he needs to talk to someone about it. Desperately so.

"Just keep probing," Bruce stole Steve away from his thoughts, "his walls will melt eventually. At least enough for you to see a different side of him. He barely trusts me but he shows me a part of him I know you never seen. You may not know this but we do hang out a lot after work. He calls me his science bro and that makes me feel so special in a way I cannot fully explain."

"Hey you are special Bruce, your the brains of our team," Steve teased though a part of him felt hurt and sad that Bruce felt left out.

"I am the data kid," Bruce replied, "do not get me wrong I do know I am a unique part of the team but in my field many people have dismissed me as nothing. I was told I was one of the brightest minds they ever met but suddenly some small thing goes wrong and my career went down with it. It caused me to have major anger issues. So much so that I created an alternate personality they dubbed the 'Hulk'. But, Tony came into my life on the first mission we had and suddenly I felt like that brilliant man I once was. He gave me back 'Dr. Bruce Banner'."

"I want to meet that Stark," Steve smiled. Anyone who could do that for a person has to be worth something. He just doesn't know what he is missing.

Bruce just smiled back at him taking a sip of tea from his cup.


	4. Chapter 4: A Request From a Hawk

**Chapter 4:**

 **A Request From a Hawk**

JARVIS has been fully installed into the FBI system. A job well done, if you ask Tony. It was a small distraction from the growing tension in the Avengers team after The Captain decided to throw a random apology at his face. Why does The Captain always make his time at the FBI so complicated? Tony will never know.

Still, his AI now has access to everything Ironman. Tony was giddy. He could work a lot more efficiently now. He sat back and typed JARVIS a list of commands for him to run in the background while he 'pretended' to get a break through on the case. This was going to be so much fun for him and very educational to the Captain and his crew.

After JARVIS confirmed his acknowledgment of his Tony's commandments, Tony set to work on his new prototypes he had going for a new form of computing. Most of the tech he used at home is too advanced for real society so he has to come up with ways simplify them to make it public consumable. This step was one of Tony found most loathsome but knew it had to be done. If he wanted to make sure he was ahead of the game he had to keep up with the ongoing demand. New models, new gadgets, new everything.

"Hey Tony," a familiar voice spoke up beside him. Looking up he smiled as Bruce placed a hot cup of joe in front of him before taking a seat directly to his left. He leaned back and watched Bruce fiddle around and begin typing his credentials into the computer he stationed himself at. Everyone at this agency are way too into their work but that is why they save so many lives doing it. Which made it more frustrating that they were wasting time and resources on a hacker who did not harm anyone but those who deserved it.

He should know, he was Ironman. A secret he would like to keep out of the hands of the FBI. Thank the lord they trusted him enough to believe he was not the man behind it all. Now, he needed to figure out a safe place to have his 'hide-out' be 'discovered'. It was not going to be easy. He needed to make it look believable. Leave just enough information that would peak the Avengers interest while not giving away too much was never an easy task. Tony was a genius for a reason, right?

"Sup Brucie-bear," Tony smiled at his only friend in the building other than his AI. That is kind of sad.

"I was analyzing some of the data yesterday," Bruce started which made Tony very nervous, "and I noticed something. Every time Ironman hacks or at least attempts to hack since I try to ward him off he only goes for machines that are issued by Hammer Tech."

And why wouldn't he Hammer Tech was just plain awful in every way. Tony could destroy their machines in seconds and he has just to prove a point. Bu alas they FBI refused to switch because they think he would try and access restricted files. They were right but at least he would not use that data to sell out his country like he knew Hammer did. Tony had to set up extra security around Ironman's files in case another hacker ever tried to get into the FBI and try to get information about him. He had to keep himself safe even within the confines of the FBI.

"Interesting," Tony commented, "wonder why? Maybe he finds their tech seriously lacking like I do. I mean come on the tablets this agency uses is like five models behind the StarkTab."

"I don't disagree with you there," Bruce chuckled, "guess us techies all hate Hammer Tech. If it helps you sleep at night, all my personal technology is comes from Stark Industries."

"Thank the Lord," Tony put his hand on his heart, "you would have hurt my soul if you did not. A big insult to my creations, Buttercup."

They both heard the sliding doors open behind them so they turned their heads to see another familiar but not so friendly face, "what can I do for you Barton?" Tony asks turning himself to fully face the man.

"Uh," Barton blinked not really expecting to get his attention immediately. Seemed like he had a whole speech planed out. Tony smiled encouragingly but Barton took it as a challenge and scowled at him. Seriously what is up with this team of people?

"Does your kids want the new generation tabs cause I can get them for you if you like, at a discounted price of course. I do need to make a living," Tony prompted making Barton blink again. Dang it seemed like he was catching the hawk off guard a lot. So much for the guy who sees everything.

"I need help," Barton grumbled shuffling his feet a bit. Tony knew it was not FBI related at all. Maybe he was not hear for him but for Bruce?

"Sure, Legolas," Tony started to get up to leave trying to give the two teammates some privacy.

"Where you going?" Barton glared taking a step towards him.

"About to salsa out in the halls," Tony replied with a smile that seemed to help ease the hawk's glare.

"I need your help," Barton clarified realizing that he may have been unclear as to who he was addressing.

"Oh goodie," Tony replied skipping back to his chair and got comfortable. He loved office gossip, especially FBI gossip.

"So, I need help in tracking the coordinates of a guy," Barton began, "it has to be totally off the records."

"Why? Did he take your last piece of fried chicken? I swear it was Thomas from two cubes down who took it," Tony informed him. It was true and plus he wanted Thomas to get his ass-whooped by Barton. It was always fun to unleash the Avengers onto the other agents in the building.

"Really? I will look into that but no," Barton raised an eyebrow at the discovery before schooling his features, "it's...this man. He was reported KIA but there was no body to confirm it. I just...I can't not live with myself if I don't at least try to bring him home whether it is in a body bag or not. He deserves to be buried here with his family."

"I need a face and maybe a name," Tony requested. He did not know why he was taking up this project but he knew what it was like to have lost a friend and be unable to bury him, "it does not have to be his real name. Just the name he is most likely to go by if he is trying to low on the radar."

Barton looked genuinely surprised that Tony was willing to help him. He knew this was not totally going to get him out of Barton's do not like list but it was a step. They have a lot of history of bad memories together. It was going to be hard especially since Barton was half-convinced that Tony betrayed him. They were not even friends or anything so Tony could not understand how he could classify him sleeping with his girlfriend at the time a big no. She had told Tony she was single and taken him back to her place. He knew he should have insisted on his...long story short, Tony had broken the bro code that he was not even aware was even active between him and Barton.

"I will send it to you in a classified envelope by the end of the day," Barton replied standing up from his seat. Tony could tell the man was shaking like he was anticipating a fight but got none. It was an obvious sign of PTSD that has gone unresolved. He knew because he watched Rhodey suffer from the same thing.

Well that crossed off two more people off his list. Tony had decided that this mission he was going to change their views of him. If he could get them to trust him explicably than they would never allow anyone to suspect him of being...well him. He would get away with being Ironman.

"You sure you want to do this?" Bruce asked him. He knew by doing this Tony would be breaking like a dozen international laws but he knew that once Tony made up his mind there was not going back.

"Don't worry about it Brucie-pie," Tony smiled seeing a message from JARVIS that everything was complete. Tony had full access to the FBI files on him. Time to wreak havoc on the investigation but not too much because he still needed the Avengers for his plan to work. Hopefully he can pull it off.

Tony stood in an empty building trying to space it out in his head. How would he set up the fake base of operations without giving them too many clues. He knew how Tony Stark would set up the space but he needed to be as far from that image as possible. Easy answer, Ironman was a neat freak.

It was easy. He set up everything in such a manner than every paper was in place and every screen was meticulously cleaned thrice. After setting up everything he planted the much needed evidence into files and into an organized file cabinets while setting up a few folders on the servers of both old projects as well as a small dip into new ones that he was not going to pursue to make it more believable. After getting the info in there he set up all the signature Ironman security protocols on the devices but made them very lacking so the FBI would not have a hard time cracking them.

He realized that he could use this to his advantage. They would think he contributed enough and the FBI would ask him to leave. This meant he could also fall off the grid as Ironman to give the FBI a little time to both digest the information as well as sweat about what his next move was. It was important that Tony made them feel that Ironman was gone before coming in at full swing again.

It was how he was able to constantly out of their hands. That and their dependence on Hammer and his fucking company and technology. This stupid organization really needed to get their eyes checked.

One it was all done, Tony walked down the steps from the base camp towards the exit of the building. He used an old manager office in a building bought out by a third party company that had no ties to Tony or SI in the slightest.

Satisfied with his work Tony went home. There he found both his son and a plain but thick envelope waiting for him. Tony picked up his son, gave him all the affection he could in such waiting for Pete to begin fussing at him for the overload of love before turning his attention to the envelope.

"Dada, S'ar 'ak," Peter insisted waving his hands in front of his father's face. Tony chuckled momentarily forgetting the heavy package in his hand. Taking Peter to their favorite spot on the couch, Tony turned on their show allowing his son to get distracted. If Peter saw him not watching he would smack his arm and demand him to keep his eyes on the screen. It made Tony feel wanted even if it was for a short time. Eventually everyone got tired of Tony and it was bound to happen with Peter sooner or later. He just hoped for the latter.

Opening the envelope he pulled out a folder with the FBI initials on it and opened it to the first page. The man looked familiar to Tony but he could not really place him. That was until he read the name,

"Phil Coulson."


	5. Chapter 5: I Quit

**Chapter 5:**

 _I Quit._

Steve was in utterly in awe at how fast Stark was able to wrap Clint around his finger. It took him three days to get Clint on his side. His teammate was acting like a territorial and protective mother cat as he sat on a bookshelf in the lab watching any who enter and exit. He was protecting Stark and a part of Steve wanted to know why but it was not his business to overstep. So Steve left it alone.

Unluckily, Bucky did not.

"Yo Barton," Bucky started for the fifth time, "why are you sitting your ass up there instead of helping me gather intelligence out in the field."

"Shove off Barnes," Clint bit back, "I have permission from both Steve and Fury to be here so you can go whine at them."

"I still don't understand," Bucky growled narrowing his eyes at Stark who just shrugged and went back to typing away.

"Not everything that happens in my life has to be known to you Barnes," Clint growled out, "I have my own secrets too. So like I said, shove off."

They glared at each other and Bucky just stomped out of the lab and Steve wanted to both comfort his love and also smack some sense into him. So he actually decided to do the latter. It was time to get Buck to let it go.

He took Bucky's arm in his and forced him into his office. Closing the blinds and locking the door, Steve turned to Bucky with a blank stare letting his friend glare holes at him. Steve indicated for Bucky to sit down before taking a seat across from him in his own office chair. For some reason, he could see how different his friend his friend's presence in the room compared to Stark's. Bucky had an ease to him that made it easy for people to approach him while Stark had a charisma that just instantly held the room.

Back on topic, "Tell me what is going on with you, James?" Bucky flinched at being called by his first name.

"Nothing," Bucky tried but relented when Steve glared at him, "ugh, Stark is my problem. I just cannot stand the man. He acts like he owns the place. He does not care for anyone but himself and it pisses me off. And then Bruce goes and becomes all buddy-buddy with him and now Clint is acting like his bodyguard all of a sudden. I don't like it."

"What has he done to you to get such an extreme reaction, Buck? I mean come on, you are going to tell me that because he parades around he is public enemy number one? You have been angry at him because he insulted you a while ago and you just won't get over it. I get you were angry but I have seen people say a lot worse and get away with a lot less from you. I mean he was snarking back at you for what you told him, which you knew he was going to do. I need more Buck. I can't keep having your back if you won't tell me more."

"Don't you see it?" Bucky growled leaning forward in his chair, "he is trying to take away all our teammates! I mean every time we have an issue we go to him! Like why can't we go to Hammer or anyone else! Even Pym!"

"So you're scared he is trying to take us away from you Buck? Is that what you see this as happening? Gosh, you're like a child who is scared their candy is going to be taken away if he leaves it out for the night. Do you have such little faith in any of us to be friends with you while also being friends with Stark? Not that I am saying I want or plan to be friends with the man but God, give us and him some slack. He could be just trying to make life easier for both us and him by trying to get along. Why not give it a try? Be nice to him for the next few days and maybe you can just get over it." Steve was surprised at himself for saying this. Just a few days ago he would have been nodding along with Bucky and agreeing with everything he was saying. It was odd to be on a different side of things.

He had not decided when his opinion began to change. He still hated Stark and did not like him one bit but he could feel like he was no longer so antagonized against him. He was tired of having to fight and be angry all the time at one person. It was time to change things. And it had to start somewhere.

"I will try to be nicer to him too," Steve said as he watched his lover deflate in front of him. He looked like a kicked puppy but Steve had to stand firm. Things had to change. Stark was here for the long haul as time and time again he has come to help their team resolve their issues. It was going to not work if they keep just antagonizing each other.

"Fuck this," Buck growled standing up looking around to punch something. The anger was back in a flash.

"You're just annoyed that I am right," Steve said calmly, "go take a walk and cool off we don't need you clogging your mind with useless emotions. Plus, I think you are angry at yourself because you know what I am saying is true. Think it over and if you can't get along at all with Stark we will just make sure you are not in the same room as each other for a length of time, alright."

"Fine," was all Bucky said before unlocking the door and storming to the elevator. That was the last time Steve saw Bucky for the rest of the day.

When Stark called a meeting it meant that, finally, he actually had something. It was interesting and scary how Stark was able to hack into his desk phone and tell him to get his ass down to the lab without actually having to call his phone. Then he proceeded to point out that if this were StarkTech they would not be having this issue at all. Even added the fact that all their systems and technology was crap and needed a grand update. Steve just snorted trying hard not to laugh since he knew Director Fury was also receiving this call at the same time, Stark had said so.

And so, with a long sigh, Steve got up from his chair, walked down the stairs, since he actively did not use the elevator, and entered the lab where the rest of the team minus Bucky and Natasha were there.

"I told your bestie to come but it seemed like was either ignoring my attempt at communication or he was not at his desk," Stark said to Steve as he came to stand next to Director Fury. They both looked at each other and back at Stark waiting to hear what he has found.

"What are we looking at Stark?" Director Fury asked waiting for Stark to give them more details. The man looked at the Director in confusion for a second when he realized he did not exactly explain what was happening. He smiled his charismatic smile that Steve, who will never tell a soul, loved. He actually felt like Stark had the whole world figured out and was about to give you a glimpse at the workings of it. Steve had never actually told anyone how much he actually liked Stark's smile even he did not particularly like the man who wore it.

"Oh. Oh right! Silly me forgot to tell you what I found! I was too excited to elaborate," Stark looked at the small screen and typed a few things on the keyboard which transferred it all to the big screens. They saw a map with a red dot pulsing on the screen near the bottom left corner.

"It is a location," Steve points out making Stark huff in annoyance, "but for what?"

"This," Stark points, "is what I could trace Ironman's latest location to be." Steve stayed silent in shock. He was not expecting such results. He just stared at the screen calculating.

Fury and Stark began to bicker and the Director made a comment that made Steve pause from his train of thoughts, "excuse me, Director," Steve began cutting off the two mid sentences, "what exactly do you think you will gain by telling Stark that Hammer could do it in less time and that his father would be remotely disappointed. I mean every single person in this lab would have never found this location ever let alone this quick. I do not understand the context of your words. I respect you, sir, I do but you have gone too far."

"Capt-" Fury tried only to be punched square in the face by Bruce. Everyone backed up in shock and fear at the man who was roaring to go at Fury again if it hadn't been for Stark getting up and standing in his way.

"I quit," Bruce seethed, "get someone else to do your fucking dirty work, asshole." And with that Bruce was gone taking a very confused and apprehensive Stark with him. A part of Steve wished he had grabbed Stark in order to protect him from Bruce's other side but he knew better than to get in the way of Bruce while he was in the 'Hulk' state of mind.

"Seriously," Clint turned to Fury who was cradling his swelling jaw in his hands, "you of all people should have known better. You would have never said that to anyone else but for some reason its alright since it's Tony Stark."

"You don't understand," Fury began again.

"Then fucking enlighten me," Clint bit back. Normally Steve would stop Clint and give him a stern lecture of respecting his superiors while also adding the bad language in there too. But this time, this time, Fury got what he deserved. He had Hawkeye's and his full attention.

"As I was trying to explain. Stark cannot believe we need him as much as we do. I know it sounds stupid but this is highly classified information we have here and letting Stark access it, even a little bit of it, is dangerous. He is a genius and an explosive one at that and I cannot let anything of importance fall into his hands without moderation," Fury tries to explain but Steve and Clint just stare blankly back at him.

"Is this why you denied him entry into the Avengers initiative when you knew he was overqualified for the position? Is this why you let yourself believe that belittling someone like you just did is okay? I mean I have seen you act as the voice of reason but now you are talking like a madman. You came to me and my teammates and asked if we like to join the FBI. But now, now I am so done. Goodbye, Fury." Steve growled ripping off his badge in anger and throwing it on the table. Clint surprisingly followed along.

"It is a meaningless comment and Stark doesn't take it to heart," Fury spoke up looking at their backs as they walked towards the elevators.

Steve did not say anything and just walked onto the elevators.

Bucky was sitting on the couch when Steve and Clint finally got home from their time at the bar. Steve was a little tipsy but Clint...Clint was so far gone. Luckily the place was walking distance from theirs. Then again, what Steve considered walking distance many considered a marathon, so his judgement is kind of skewed.

"Punk," Bucky looked up at him in anger.

"Jerk," Steve replied throwing Clint onto the couch next to Bucky.

"Where have you been?" Bucky asked watching Steve settle himself into a chair.

"Trying to drink myself silly since I just fucking walked away from my job at the FBI," Steve answered, "but it didn't work out 'cause no matter how much I drink I can't get drunk. I get tipsy but nothing more. I mean I seriously just told Fury to shove it because he said something mean and rude to Stark. It's not like the man can't defend himself. And now I got Clint and Bruce fired as well. I am such a horrible friend and leader."

Steve just began to ball.

"Oh Stevie," Bucky rushed over to place his arms around his lover, "you did the best you could. I still believe Stark is a piece of shit but I still will give this...this anger a rest. I think I am ready to move on and if that means leaving the FBI than I am totally for it. It will make my life so much nicer since I will never have to work with Stark again."

"I think you should stay," Steve spat out, "I can't trust Fury to do the right thing and I don't want Nat to go at it alone because I know she won't quit."

"Alright," Bucky whispered, "so I am stuck working with Stark while you get to laze around all day."

"Well now you have to play nice with Stark," Steve laughed, "and go get Ironman."

"I can sneak you in," Bucky smiled, "I know how much it means to you to catch Ironman."

"That is breaking the law Buck," Steve shook his head.

"Well the law screwed you over, punk," Bucky growled giving Steve a look.

"Just go into work tomorrow and see what happens," Steve sighed leaning back into his chair while Bucky sat next to him on the arm rest and played with his hair.

It was times like these that he hated his unquenchable thirst to stand up against bullies. It has cost him a job he loved.


	6. Chapter 6: New Employee(s) of the Month

**Chapter 6:**

 _New Employee(s) of the Month_

Tony watched Bruce listen to Peter babble on about his toys using half-coherent words. Tony wasn't really paying attention to the conversation as his mind was reeling about what to for Bruce and his brigade. His plan was always to get the Avengers to be his, working with him instead of against him. This just sped up this process and changed the plan a bit. Tony could hire them to work on the same cases they are working on but as private contractors for SI. This could work. He just would have to work super cautiously for the next few months if they decided to take his offer. He could also wrangle Fury's neck to get their jobs back...hmm...so many options.

He was so in his mind he had not realized that silence had filled the room and both Bruce and Peter were staring at him, "uh, sorry baby, what was that?" Tony focused on his son's eyes. Gosh, Tony knew he would melt from any gaze from those eyes.

"Dada," Peter scrunched up his nose in annoyance making Tony laugh and kiss The look away. In the end the three of them were giggling at the situation. Tony made sure to never let Peter think he did not care about what he had to say or what he wanted to do.

"Peter-cup," Tony pulled back from his assault and looked into his sons eyes again, "isn't it time for Star Trek?"

""Tar 'Ak!" Peter squealed turning to Bruce in excitement seeing if he, too, was excited. Bruce's eyes shined in sincere happiness.

"You going to join Brucie-bear?" Tony asked taking Peter off Bruce's lap and moved him to his.

Bruce nodded. He watched both Tony and Peter smile so largest lit up their faces with so much delight that he feared what would have occurred if he told them no.

The three of them settled in and Tony pressed play and the next episode played on the large StarkTV. Tony never let anyone know of JARVIS's existence, not even Bruce who would appreciate it. Tony feared that if he knew about J he would see his traces in many of the systems Ironman hacked. Tony couldn't risk it. At least not yet.

The show started and Tony settled in to watch his son stare at the TV before sneakily taking out his StarkPad and began to type away for signs of Agent Coulson. He will still find the man because he had promised to do so and Tony made it a mission to honor all promises if he could. It was hard hiding from a two-year-old but he was now the master of evasion. Peter would never notice since he falls asleep in about...ten minutes. He always dozes off fifteen minutes after the show starts and Tony always lets the show finish but repeats it where Peter left off so his son knows what happens after he slept. He did not want his son to miss a thing.

Peter's head finally dropped in slumber allowing Tony to pull up his StarkPad into a more comfortable angle. He looked to see if Bruce was still there and he was but has also fell asleep. Hulking out always left Bruce extremely tired and he never lasted long enough. Tony smiled at the situation. Guess he will have to discuss his offer tomorrow with him.

Tony played with different sources looking for any facial recognitions for the missing man in any and all revenues from morgues files, missing and criminal cases as well as any surveillance footage. So far, Tony was able to rule out twenty-four countries. This was not going to be easy but it was moving along steadily.

Closing the StarkPad after giving JARVIS a new list of commands to go through during the night, Tony decided to sleep. It was his day off, sort of, and he wanted to spend as much time with Peter as he possibly could. Waking up from slumber was easier than stopping himself mid his work binge so he decided to give the former a try.

He picked Peter up and shifted him so his arms his son was comfortable while he sprayed a blanket over Bruce's sleeping frame. Tony knew that they all needed a rest. Every single member of the Avengers even for a few hours.

With those thoughts in mind, Tony put Peter to bed and climbed into his own.

* * *

Tony awoke at exactly five thirty in the morning while the sun has just peaked out of the horizon. JARVIS was giving him the daily run down making sure Tony's brain soaked up its much-needed knowledge before his adventure of the day began.

He got up, like he does every day, and checked on Peter to see if his son was up. Usually, he was but this time Peter was still sound asleep in his bed. It seems that whatever Marty and him did yesterday has completely drained him of energy. Tony did not mind, it gave him a few more minutes to himself.

Thoughts began pooling into his mind as he stumbled into the kitchen and living room area to reach his coffee machine. He was churning on a single thought that had crossed his mind as he left Peter's room; a partner. Like an actual relationship. Tony wanted to have one. He really did but he was never good at them and he always managed to screw them up. Every time. So, it was easier to not try at all since every attempt beforehand has ended with the same result. His scientific mind berated him by telling him that if it were an experiment or a scientific idea Tony would never, ever, give up. He just scowled into his coffee cup taking a sip from the holy liquid.

Tony found a wayward StarkPad lying around and decided to check up on the search for Coulson. JARVIS had written out reports of any and all activity that might be remotely significant for Tony to look at. Most of the time he would have just spoken it to his creator but due to present, though still sleeping, company he opted for written text instead. This made Tony smile, his AI always manages to surprise him about his insightfulness without having to be told. Tony was one proud father, though he would never call J his child...ever.

Tony easily zeroed down the sources that were provided by JARVIS down to just three. They were not much but those seemed to be very likely sources. None of them had any pictures that confirmed it but he knew from some files he has already read on the FBI that Agent Coulson's last few missions were in the sourced country, Germany, before he went MIA.

He boxed them up and told JARVIS to dig closer to the German territory as well as its neighboring countries. Before shifting his focus to the stirring man on the couch. "Morning Brucie," Tony smiled throwing the StarkPad into the air to be caught inconspicuously by a metal arm that came out of the wall. Bruce grumbled looking up from his spot on the couch confused before realizing what has transpired. He groaned and blushed in embarrassment at having slept on Tony's couch instead of going home to his own apartment.

"Good Morning Tony," Bruce finally answers rubbing his face with his hands in an attempt to wake himself up. Tony just smiled and handed him a steaming cup of green tea that he knows Bruce loves before heading to Peter's room for the second time.

This time, Peter was wide awake staring at the door to his room as if waiting for his Dada to come in. Tony smiled widely and Peter responds with a gleeful shriek and making grabby hands at Tony to pick him up. Peter never mutters a coherent word until after at least an hour of being awake. Another trait he gained from his father. At least he was picking up these habits instead of others. Tony always tries to keep any bad habits out of Peter's space so he does not learn to do them at any stage of his development. Tony was not going to let the mistakes his father did with him come onto Peter. It was not fair. It was not right.

Bruce was moving about the kitchen pulling out ingredients from the fridge. Tony always kept it fully stocked so that Marty can cook any meal Peter would ever want or need. It made Tony happy to watch Bruce make himself at home in the tower.

"Look at you being all domestic. Making breakfast for three?" Tony teased as he turned on the coffee pot while still carrying Peter on his hip.

"The least I can do for you letting me stay over," Bruce responded cracking the second egg.

"Pfft, please, if I wanted to kick you out you would have landed on the streets hours ago," Tony waved off Bruce's answer. Bruce just shook his head and continued to make them all breakfast.

Once they all finished breakfast and cleaning up. Let's face it, Peter got more food on him than in him but he looked happy so Tony let it slide. It was Peter's day anyways. "So, want to work for SI?" Tony finally got the courage to pop the question. He was not looking at Bruce but still at least he got around to actually asking.

"Tony, I—" Bruce tried but Tony glared at him. He did not like his friend's tone. It was a I-can-not-take-your-charity kind of tone and Tony hated it. If he was offering he meant it. He would not have wanted to hire Bruce unless he wanted Bruce as an employee no matter how close they were.

"Look, I wanted you for SI for a long, long time. I kept it to myself but as a moral obligation for you quitting a job you love, don't lie you do, I want to offer you a position at my company. It is more for selfish reasons than anything else so you don't have to worry about 'walking all over my big heart' because I can assure you my ego is much bigger and I can totally flaunt that I got THE Bruce Banner on my team. Do you know how long I have been waiting to say that?" Tony babbled but did not look away from his friend's face. He watched Bruce's facial expressions change from sad resignation to sincere gratitude. He did the right thing.

"Alright," Bruce smiled, "but…"

"I got your friends covered," Tony cut Bruce off again making the man chuckle a bit, "I have had positions for them to fill for a long while too. Though I never thought I would actually get the opportunity to offer it to them. Let's face it under normal circumstances, they probably wouldn't but since this isn't normal I am willing to take a shot at the hoop."

"Are you sure they aren't charity cases?" Bruce asked.

"You kidding me?" Tony laughed, "I mean it will help me because I wanted to start an investigation department that is totally funded my SI to look into important cases that effect the world without having to rely on government agencies or their agendas. Imagine all the good we can do!"

"An investigation department? Is that where I will be working?" Bruce inquired leaning a bit towards Tony in interest.

"If you want," Tony shrugged, "I wanted to put you as one of my heads for the R&D department with your very own lab, don't think I did not notice all your side research into gamma rays, but if you really want I can even allow you to have both positions! I mean who am I to deny you anything?"

"That…that sounds really nice actually," Bruce blushed looking down at the plates he was cleaning. He really loved it when someone recognized him and Tony did it without even trying to.

"Good," Tony beamed and began to calculate how to go about getting the rest of them, "you can move into the tower. There are too many floors in this building that are unoccupied and Peter needs to be around more people I trust and actually like."

"Now this is pushing it," Bruce gave Tony a stern look.

Undeterred Tony responded, "none sense, imagine having access to your lab and your office whenever you wanted without having to step foot out of your home. Brucie-cup I know you're lonely and depressed especially since your breakup with Betsy. You need this just as much as Petey and I."

"I will think about that part, alright?" Bruce replied looking resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to change Tony's mind.

"Good, just tell me the move in date."

"Tony!"

They were both laughing and Tony would not have it any other way.

* * *

Tony could not believe anyone who worked for the FBI would live in this place let alone share it with three other occupants. Were they not paid enough to get their own places? Could they not find a more affordable and nicer living space for four people in all of New York? Tony did not know but with his job offer they were all going to be getting their own floors in the tower (it was just to convince Bruce, okay? He was NOT starting to like all of the other Avengers…NOPE) and work the jobs they love. Still, Tony was nervous. A part of him thinks that Rogers, Barton, Romanov or Barnes will close the door in his face. It was highly likely that the last will but he had hopes for the others.

Taking a deep breath, Tony walked up to the third floor looking for apartment number 3c. The place was falling apart and smelled like old people. It made Tony's nose crinkle but he kept strong and went on with his mission. He found it at the end of the hall. The door was old and the letter C was hanging upside down. Another thing to add to the list of 'bad' to this place.

Tony knocked on the door.

"What?" It was Barnes. He looked ruffled like he was just in…oh. Tony blushed taking a few steps back holding up the stack of papers he had to his face.

"Uh…" Tony tried to speak but couldn't find his voice. His brain was fried with the idea of Rogers and Barnes making out. For some reason he found it hot. So inappropriate.

"Get on with it Stark," Barnes sighed, "I don't want to hold open the door all day."

"I need to speak to the other occupants of the house, please," Tony squeaked. He swore in his head because this was not how Tony Stark acts, especially in front of people like Barnes and Rogers but for some reason after yesterday, his walls have come down a bit.

"'Bout what?" Barnes asked. Right, the job offers. Why can't Tony forget the image of the two other men making out? Darn it.

"It's private," Tony responded, "I know what you'll say but until either of the intended people tell me otherwise I will not divulge this to you, understood?" He finally got his grove back.

"Come on in," Barnes stepped aside to let Tony in. Tony tried to make himself smaller as to not touch the other man but their skin still touched and Barnes' was surprisingly cool.

Barnes led Tony into a rundown living room with a half broken and might he add _old_ TV, a half moth eaten couch and a wooden dining table and chairs that have seen better days. Their living situation was abysmal and it was a wonder why the FBI were not offering them better pay. After assessing the layout of the room, Tony chose to sit at the edge of the dining table and began to set up all the paperwork he brought with him. This was a sales pitch to people, he did NOT like excuse you, that he has been working with/against for so long. It was important he get this right.

He heard a noise behind him and turned to see Rogers and Barton walk through the small door he came in a few minutes ago. Suddenly, Tony's mouth was real dry.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think! I love to hear what you think! :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Stark'd

**Chapter 7:**

 _Stark'd_

Steve was in the middle of a nice make out session with Bucky when a knock on the door came. Bucky made a move to go answer but Steve fastened his hands around his lover's wrists trying to keep him in place. Bucky chuckled at Steve's antics which made Steve all gooey inside. He loved Bucky's laugh.

Reluctantly, Steve let Bucky go to answer the door. His ma taught him better than to leave a guest waiting at the door. So he sat back on the bed wondering who was at their door. Steve could hear Bucky's voice but did not pay attention to the conversation that was happening down the hall. It was probably for Clint anyway. Steve's throat went dry thinking about his friend. He had avoided the archer ever since they quit yesterday and knew that he was going to get an ear full. Clint hated being ignored.

Steve sighed and rolled over giving his back to the door not really wanting to know what was happening behind it. All Steve wanted at the moment was to feel Bucky's skin on his. It was frustrating that his lover had to be the one opening the door like a protection measure. Bucky had always had this habit ever since they were kids and his apartment was broken into which ended up killing his mother. It was mostly cute and made Steve all warm inside thinking of how protective his boyfriend is but right at this moment he selfishly wanted to hog his man to himself. Sigh. Today wasn't his day.

Steve heard footsteps walking towards his room. From the footfall he knew it was Bucky coming back. Steve sat up expecting Bucky to come in and continue their previous festivities but the look on his face told him another story. Steve gave Bucky a questioning look before he grumbled about Stark being in their living room and that he wanted to see both Steve and Clint. Odd. Stark never came to their place.

Getting off the bed, Steve straightened himself out as best he could before Bucky came back with Clint in toe. His blonde friend gave him a once over then smirked knowingly. It always made Steve blush with the idea the Clint knew. But he wasn't going to think about it.

Stark was indeed in their living room. He had set up shop on their dining table arranging papers and then rearranging them again. It was kind of cute about how obviously nervous the man was. He just smirked and stepped into the room making his presence known to the fidgety brunette.

"What brings you to our side of the world Stark?" Clint asked. Bucky stood at the door in a position of attack incase any of them needed to on offensive. Steve scoffed. Stark was half their sizes. He wouldn't be much in a fight against them.

"Uh...well...I," Stark sighed, "Look, I know you all quit yesterday. As nice as it is to pretend you are on vacation I believe I have a solution to your current dilemma."

"So you got us all jobs?" Steve asks taking the seat across from Stark.

"In a sense," Stark replies with a smirk, "My offer includes new room and board while being able to work on projects you have been working on but under new management, me. Though I am a very busy man so you will mostly have free reign as long as you stay within the law to do so."

"And?" Clint pressed for more information. Stark blinked at the man before his face contorted in embarrassment.

"Gosh, I always end up leaving things out," Stark covered his face with his hands before placing them over the bundles of papers on the table, "I can one of two things. I can get your jobs at the FBI back because Fury owes me one and plus I am good friends with the current president. Or I can set you up at Stark Industries under our new Investigation Department that will be run by you guys, if you decide to join. If you pick the latter you will have your own floors within the Stark Tower while getting paid a handsome sum. Don't worry. It is the same rate I pay all my employees at. Bruce is already on board all that this division is missing are you guys!"

"So this was your plan all along, Stark?," Bucky asked from across the room. The man looked Bucky in the eyes with a complete blank look that made Steve shudder a bit. He has never seen Stark look so...cold.

"If you are going to constantly throw everything I say and offer back in my face than I am just going to walk out," Stark replied gathering all the papers he had set up. Instinctively Steve reached out and caught Stark's wrist.

"I haven't given _my_ opinion on you offer Tony," it felt odd to say his first name again. A part of him remembers Stark asking him to call him by his first name, "I would like to think it over and read it with my lawyers."

"You have until Friday to answer me," Stark said looking straight at Steve. He handed him the paperwork telling him all the lines that Steve needs to sign have been highlighted for him and Clint. Steve takes the papers and thanks the smaller man before watching him leave the room.

"That happened a little too quick don't you think?" Clint asked taking the papers from Steve's hands and began to read them. Steve's attention was still at the doorway in which both Stark and Bucky disappeared through.

"Stark lives a fast pace life, Clint. He doesn't have the time to sit in one spot for long. It is a luxury people like him and us don't have," Steve said before getting up to get himself and Clint bottles of their favorite beer. It was always a running joke that Steve and Clint were alcohol soulmates. They both liked the same kind of drinks that both Nat and Bucky couldn't stand.

When he came back into the room, Steve saw Bucky sitting next to Clint looking like a kicked puppy again. It seemed to be Bucky's look of the week. "What happened now?"

"Nothing…" Bucky grumbled under his breath. Steve just shrugged. Whatever Bucky discussed with Stark while leading him out of the apartment was none of his business.

Steve sat across from both men looking at the pile of papers wondering what to do with himself. Bucky changed seats taking Steve's hand in his. Steve looked at his boyfriend in confusion before the other man began to kiss him making Steve chuckle before pulling his lover closer. Bucky always knew how to cheer Steve up.

They would have gone deeper if it weren't for Clint constantly making disgusting noises in background purposefully ruining the mood. "Seriously guys! We have a job offer and all you can do is kiss?"

"It's an easy decision Birdbrain," Bucky growled, "we ask Stark to get you back into the FBI."

"That is the thing Buck," Steve cut in, "I don't think I am ready to work for the FBI again."

"Are you saying you would rather work for Stark instead?" Bucky growled loudly making both Steve and Clint flinch. Clint just glared at Bucky making Steve sigh.

"We don't have to decide now," Steve answered.

"So you would rather work for the douche?" Bucky asked with an angry glare towards him. This situation was getting out of hand.

"I thought you said you were going to try to let go of your anger towards Stark," Steve responded making Bucky blush. He watched his boyfriend look down in defeat. Steve was not having any of Bucky's hissy fit. He knew that his boyfriend will get over it.

Clint just stuffed all the papers into a drawer before grabbing his beer and taking a long chug. "Let's go out! This is the first time we have the time without actually having to go to work!" Clint waved his arms crazily. Steve just chuckled before agreeing to join his companion.

"I want to join but I can't," Bucky pouted. Steve just gave Bucky an expected look making his boyfriend smile a bit before giving him a quick kiss on the lips before disappearing into the darkness of their bedroom.

"Let's go!" Clint shouted and Steve just grabbed his worn leather jacket off the coat rack.

* * *

The night was young when they decided to make their way towards their favorite pub. It was getting colder outside but it was not something Steve wasn't used to. He had endured much worse than this on many missions. He remembered the first time he had been caught by the enemy and tortured at their hands using ice cold water as a method of torture. It almost worked but Steve had kept his resolve. All he had to do was think about Bucky and his family. He had to remember that they were tearing the world apart looking for him. He would be safe in a few days. Guaranteed.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Clint asked Steve. He gave his friend a sceptical look before nodding.

"I am twenty-seven Clint not eighty," Steve responded, "I haven't lost my marbles just yet."

"Yeah, but do you remember what you said to me?" Clint pressed. Steve's face scrunched up in concentration but his mind drew a blank. "It's fine, neither do I. But I remember the way you made me feel that day. It's ridiculous that I felt something the moment we shook hands. It was like yes, this man will be my brother. And I want you to know that I will follow you. Whichever route you take I will stand there by your side as your support. Always."

"Of course," Steve smiled, "who else am I going to call when I need to launch an arrow into someone's eye?"

"It better not be the Green Arrow," Clint shoved Steve playfully.

"You know I would never betray you for the CIA," Steve replied back. It was a running feud between the FBI and CIA that wasn't very serious but it was there nonetheless. Still, Steve did have some good friends who worked there.

They walked in silence as they got closer each in their own thoughts about Stark's proposal. A part of Steve wanted to decline both offers because he hated having to depend on Stark for anything but another part of him said he needed a fresh start. Maybe he could work with Bucky on the side while getting a normal job and go back to art school. He could be ready to just leave the investigation behind. He had full trust that Bucky and Nat were capable of finding Ironman with Stark's help. Maybe...just maybe he was not needed anymore.

The pub was loud. The nearer they got it the harder it was to think. Steve forced himself out of his reverie and just let himself enjoy the night. Steve looked into the small space seeing Sam Wilson sitting at the bar. Steve smiled in excitement and pulled the door open. The smell of alcohol and body odor was thick in the air and the noise level has escalated. Steve was a bit overwhelmed. A part of him hated the fact that this was not his norm. He had no life outside of work and Bucky and it made him annoyed. It was nobody's fault but his own really.

Sam noticed them enter the pub and he smiled stepping off his stool and walking over to them both. He draped his arm around both their shoulders shouting out to the world that his friends have arrived. Steve knew his friend was drunk and he always found it damn funny when Sam let go.

"What brings you to this side of town?" Steve shouted.

"What?" Sam yelled back. Steve chuckled and just shook his head. He began to move towards the bar making Sam jump off and rush to claim the seats next to him so that Steve and Clint can join him in his drinking game.

"How have you been, man?" Clint tried and Sam turned to look at him with a wide smile on his face.

"I just knew you would be here! I just finished a long ass mission and wanted to celebrate!" Sam responded. Steve wondered why he never bothered to call.

"Wow, the CIA have you working to the bone," Steve said before ordering himself the cheapest beer.

"I don't work for CIA anymore," Sam corrected.

"You quit too?" Clint asked. What is up with his friends quitting their jobs?

"Not really," Sam answered, "I got a job offer from someone. It privatized but they offer more of what I want to do."

"I thought you loved working for the CIA," Steve took a long sip from his beer. Sam just smiled before taking his own swing at his drink.

"I love doing my job right more," Sam said. His tone meant that he wanted to end this conversation and Steve was okay with that.

They did not talk about their jobs for the rest of the night.


	8. Chapter 8: This is Where it Started

Tony came home to see a naked Peter running around with Bruce chasing him around making monster noises. Tony blinked at the scene and smiled when Peter screeched and giggled in glee at almost being caught by the monster. Neither have noticed him and he just leaned on the doorframe of the elevator just quietly watching the situation. It was nice to see Bruce so carefree.

"Daddy!" Peter squealed running towards him with arms reaching out to be picked up. Tony bent down in time to get an arm full of naked child in his arms. He laughed picking his son up and held him close. Tony felt a little touch starved and he didn't know why. But having his baby boy in his arms made him feel a lot better.

"Hey there sugarplum," Tony greeted showering his giggling child in kisses as he walked deeper into his penthouse. He felt Bruce come up next to him and walk with them towards the kitchen. They both listened to Peter babble with soft smiles.

"Welcome back Tony," Bruce smiled handing him a cup of coffee. Tony sighed happily as he professionally moved Peter in his arms so he can hold both his son and drink his coffee.

"Glad to be back Brucie-pie," Tony smiled back taking a sip from his lifeblood. Bruce just affectionately rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"Daddy be'fass," Peter exclaimed as they closer to the kitchen. Tony just chuckled not really having the heart to correct his son's syntax because, technically, it was dinner time. Tony had spent the day rushing around playing with Peter after running some errands in the morning and then later on taking the proposal to Rogers and co. It was a fun day and his time away allowed Bruce to just relax and look after someone who isn't him. Bruce has this tendency to get super defensive when he is worrying about himself but the moment he has to look after another it's like a wall comes down. It was nice and Tony knew that Bruce needed it.

"Yes, I can hear your rumbly stomach from miles away," Tony laughed putting his son down before grabbing a new shirt and some training pants for him to wear. Peter protested against the clothes but Tony told him it was unclassy to have a naked bum at the table so Peter reluctantly put the clothes on.

"I had ordered takeout," Bruce said placing hot plates of food in front both Tony and Peter. Neither really paid attention to the talking man and just drooled over the food. Sometimes, Bruce found it hard to tell the difference between the two of them even with the age difference. Shaking his head fondly, Bruce began to eat as well.

The silence was both nice and peaceful for all parties at the table. The two men watched as Peter slowly began to grow sleepy and his head begin to droop. Tony loved these kind of days. They were few but he appreciated them all the same.

* * *

Tony stumbled into the FBI office clutching his freshly brewed, thanks Bruce, cup of coffee. His hair was messy, his eyes were barely open and his mouth was constantly suspended in a yawn. Overall, he looked terrible and if anyone commented on it he has half a mind to stab someone in the eye with his pocket pen. Half the office glared at him as if he had kicked their puppy and in a way he had.

"Stark!" Tony just flinched a bit at the loud noise not really in the mood for the explosion that was going to happen. He had stayed up late talking to Bruce discussing his job offer. It took awhile but he was able to convince the other scientist to accept the job.

Tony looked up to see Director Fury storm towards him and he instinctively took a few steps back holding his coffee cup closer. It was strategic so if the scary man attacked he could defend himself by throwing the hot coffee at his assailant's face.

The man stopped a few steps away from him looking down at him with his only good eye. It was these moments that Tony cursed his stature. He was tall but for some reason everyone seems to always tower over him. "I need to apologize about what I said the other day. I realized that I probably shouldn't have said it."

"I didn't quite catch that," Tony snarled back leaning forward pushing his ear towards the other man.

"I'm not repeating myself," One-eye bit back. Tony rolled his eyes.

"You know you won't get them back," a female voice spoke up stepping up from behind Tony. Of course Romanov would choose this time to return from her solo mission. Tony feared and disliked her but he never let it show...most of the time...he swears.

"Welcome back Agent Romanov," One-eye nodded at her she just stared back at him blankly. Tony snorted internally.

"Well you forced me to end my investigation early because I heard you lost me my team," Romanov answered back.

"You live with them! You haven't lost them!" Tony exclaimed. She turned her blank stare at him making Tony raise a perfectly tailored eyebrow.

"You are the root cause of this Stark," Romanov accused making Tony's blood boil.

He was about to answer when another voice broke in, "you know that isn't true, Natalie. Stevie would never stand those words being spoken to anyone."

Tony was shocked that Barnes was taking _his side_ of the fight. It looked like it pained the man to do so but at least he doesn't look so...hostile towards him. This doesn't mean they will be friends in the near future, or ever, but it means that maybe they could coexist in the same space without thinking up scenarios of how to kill each other.

"This is getting out of hand," One-Eye growled before turning and leaving the trio behind. Tony just silently gawked at the retreating back of the Director while the two next to him silently bickered. It was literally a silent bicker cause neither one opened their mouths but it both seem to understand what the counterpart's eyes were saying. If Tony did not know that Barnes was with Rogers than he would have said he would be with Romanov.

"Okay," Tony broke their silent war, "We need to get back to work since it's only us three for the moment working on this case with the FBI."

"Who do you have working on it on your end, Stark?" Barnes asked his tone seemed genuine. Tony contemplated telling the truth but a part of him was reluctant to share.

"Nobody yet. I only have...two official members and two possible ones. I am gathering names for more but no one has popped up yet. If your boyfriend takes the job he will have a big role in deciding who gets to be on the team since he will have to deal with them longer than I ever will," Tony responded. A look flashed on Barnes face but as fast as it came, it disappeared. Tony decided to push it out of his mind.

* * *

Barnes had decided to stick to Tony like glue. Wherever he went Barnes went as well. It was either the man lacked the trust to let him to do his job or he was concerned about him. Though he highly suspected it was the former. It was kind of interesting having the silently brooding man standing/sitting next to him as he applied many of his 'algorithms' to find more information on himself. They were just setting up shop to make sure the FBI servers were equipped to handle to the influx of information that was about of come in through the raid.

Tony was able to convince One-Eye to allow Rogers and Barton to help in the task force reminding him that it was in his best interest if he wanted to remotely get them back. It was critical since Tony had set up the building to react only to Rogers DNA signatures. The man needed to be there for everything to work. Tony really wanted Rogers to be the one to see the information...so, at five, just like Tony planned, the FBI will enter the building and ransac it for information.

It was currently three and Tony still had a few more things to do. He strengthened the server's security system by destroying Hammer's weak one and replacing it with Stark-grade firewalls. It wasn't hard and he also made sure to create it in such a way that Hammer couldn't touch or replicate it. Tony wouldn't have bothered but he did not want his information he spent so long gathering to get in the hands of Hammer, ever.

So here he sat on the phone talking to Bruce while he worked his magic, or more like JARVIS worked his magic. Tony wanted to get a feel for his friend's first day at work at his new job and it was eating away at him not really knowing if Bruce was happy. He needed his friend to be happy with his new job. He couldn't lose his Brucie to anyone else.

So here he sat listening to Bruce talk about his newly started project that he had been thinking about for a while now. It was nice to hear the excitement in the other man's voice. It helped sooth Tony down. He was mentally freaking out that he left some incriminating evidence at the warehouse though he made sure to be very thorough about it. Still, it didn't stop him from overthinking everything.

Then things began to progressively get worse as time went on because by four thirty, Justin Hammer walked through the doors with a huge cocky smile on his face. Tony watched him walk towards him with a large scowl on his face. Though, before the other man could get to him, Barnes got up from his spot and stood in front of the man.

"What are you doing here?" Barnes asked looking straight into Hammer's eyes. The man seemed to waver a bit being stared down by Barnes.

"I'm here to watch my tech help catch the most wanted cyber hacker," he answered with a smirk.

"Sorry, I had to replace a lot of your handy work," Tony responds, "your firewalls had to be replaced since there was so many holes in there that it looked more like a chewed up moth blanket than concrete wall against cyber attacks. It's surprising that no one decided to take a jab at the FBI because they would have succeeded."

"You had no right!" Hammer growled.

"That's funny, I thought the FBI hired me to work on this case and make sure everything went smoothly. Especially since I was able to kill all your access codes and remote admin accounts from the server. So from now on Hammer, you no longer have anyway to see into the dealings at the FBI," Tony responded coolly as he fakely studied his fingers.

One-Eye had come in behind Hammer and heard Tony give his little claim forcing the man to take action against Hammer. Admitting the truth was the fastest way to get Hammer out the door and Tony wasn't in the mood to deal with him so he used it. The slimy man kept yelling about how it wasn't over and that now he couldn't prove anything but Tony had logs of everything. He was able to collect all the evidence he needed to actually convict Hammer but he decided to hold off on it until this step in his grand plan was over. He needed to plant the seeds of doubt within the minds of all the members of the special task force team.

"Is it true?" Barnes asked looking at Tony now with a sharp gaze. Tony had the sudden thought that maybe the man should get a haircut and clean up his scruff but made sure to keep that comment to himself.

"That Hammer thing? Yup, the accounts have been there since day one. At least if you had went with StarkTech you would have known exactly what you were getting. I don't play dirty like most like to believe," Tony responded turning his head a bit to see that One-Eye was glaring at him.

"Why did you not think to report this until now?" One-eye asked annoyance was dripping in his tone.

"I did while I was pitching to you," Tony responded, "you had already been using StarkTech before but suddenly me inheriting the company seemed to have changed your mind. It was a little insulting but that's okay. Whenever I came in to help on any cases I made sure that any action dont by Hammer's secret accounts got corrupted before they could be used. You're welcome."

"I'm not thanking you for anything, yet," One-Eye commented moving past him and towards the man control room where the operations was being finalized and set up. They had visual and verbal confirmation that all members of the ground force was there except for Barnes and Romanov who were about to leave.

Barnes looked at Tony as he stood to leave, "Don't break anything."

"I'll try not to pumpkin pie," Tony responded quickly not really realizing to whom he was speaking to. Tony turned to look at Barnes but the man was already out of the door. He wondered if he overstepped his bounds but since he didn't get a punch to the face he thinks it wasn't all that bad.

Tony shuffled into the room fifteen minutes later and took a seat near the front to get a wide look at everything that was happening.

So many voices were talking all at once but Tony heard over them all one voice that said, "We're going in."

He knew nothing was going to be the same.


	9. Chapter 9: To Be Attacked

Steve could not believe his luck. Stark had gotten them on the SWAT team responsible for busting _Iron Man's Base of Operations_. He was giddy, excited and a little terrified about what they would find. Years of work came down to this moment. This moment in time that determined whether or not they _got him or not_. Steve did not know how Stark did it but one thing was for sure, Steve was taking his job offer. He cared not for what Bucky said about the man Steve was going to work for him. It made a lot more sense and he would be more in control of what happens, how it happens, and who he assigns to get things done. He liked the idea of being team leader and supervisor even if Stark was his 'boss'.

Steve shook his head and pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. Right now, he needed to follow Bucky's orders because he was the new leader of the unit. It filled Steve with pride and sorrow that Bucky has his job but no matter the circumstances Steve was happy for him. He heard Stark over the radio flirtily tell Bucky to keep him up to date and tell him any and all details of the tech they find. Steve wanted to growl into the comms for Stark not to flirt with his boyfriend but bit his tongue in fear of losing the job he hasn't even gotten yet.

"Alright, Avenger Alpha Team One," It's was the core members of the team's name, "move in."

"We're going in," Steve said over the comms making sure that the message went back to Stark that they were making a move. He knew Stark was their greatest asset to catch Ironman and keeping him informed is very important.

With that Steve began to move. He stalked the outer wall of the warehouse slowly trying to make sure that everyone followed his speed. He knew Bucky was in charge but he was the tactician of the team so even when someone else was in the lead they relied on him to get them from point A to point B. But if Buck had a problem with him taking the reigns he would gladly back off but his boyfriend said nothing and followed behind him willingly.

Steve tried the first door he found and it was surprisingly open. He pulled the metal door and rushed back in case anything detonated. He would not put it past Ironman to set traps all around his hide out. After waiting a few seconds Steve spoke into the comms, "Clear." And they were on the move again. Once they entered the building they moved diligently and slowly making sure that the team does not land themselves in a trap. Steve kept his eye out for anything suspicious. Then they finally made it to the center and largest room. The moment Steve past the threshold the lights turned on and Steve just stared in awe.

The room was completely lit up in fluorescent light with machines, tables, tools and computers galore. Steve felt like a child who just found his favorite toy after losing it. He let himself smile for a second before schooling his features. He could be excited later once they actually _found_ something. "We are in," Steve heard Bucky speak up through the coms. Instantly, Steve began to assess everything and began to document in his mind for later because if he was going to do a job he needs to gather as much intel as possible.

"Hey," Clint came over and whispered into Steve's ear, "we should take notes and gather some evidence of our own."

"So you're taking the job?" Steve asked back in a whisper.

"Yeah, I can tell you are going to do it and like I said: 'wherever you go I go'," Clint cracked a smile moving past Steve like an excited child.

"Alright! No one touch anything that may look like it can explode," Bucky half-heartedly warned. Steve knew that none of them would risk it but it had to be said anyway.

Steve walked around the room pulling out a small notebook and pencil and began to write things down. Anything and everything he thought was interesting without touching. He did not want to put anyone in danger until they got the clear to touch stuff. Then Steve noticed something odd in the corner of the room. He treaded closer to it slowly raising his gun to eye level cautiously. Once he got to the strange object's location, Steve noticed that it was a robot. A one-clawed machine that hung low as if it was asleep. Steve dumbly reached out and touched it causing it to awaken. It made a beeping noise before charging him forcing Steve to take several steps back and hitting a table causing some things on it to fall. Steve steadied himself on the table while still holding the gun to the robot. There was silence in the room and Steve avoided looking around to see the angry faces of the other agents who have joined them soon after their discovery.

The robot whirled towards him beeping excitedly. It kept shaking it's arm up and down without pause. Steve put his finger to his ear to open the comms to ask Stark if he knew how to turn off a rogue robot.

"R-r-rogue robot?" Stark stutterd which Steve thought was odd, "he probably thinks you're invading his master's lair, which you are, and is on attack mode."

"So how do you turn it off?" Steve growled.

"Does it beep or screech at you?" Stark asked uselessly.

Steve paused looking confused as he continued to back away from the charging robot, "uh it beeps."

"Dummy…" was all Steve heard before the robot came bounding towards him. It clawed at his safety jacket a few times before yanking Steve to the ground. Steve raised his gun to shoot as the clawed robot raised its claw to strike when suddenly stopped and lowered itself to sleeping position.

"What did you do?" Steve asked as he scrambled to his feet. Everyone around him looked like they wanted to both laugh and lecture him all at once. This is by far the weirdest lab bust Steve has encountered. Ever. Plus, why did no one else bother to come to his rescue?

"I was able to remotely send a disarming signal to get it to turn off," Stark replied, "standard protocol. Now, please don't hurt it. Just bring it in for me." Stark sounded desperate and scared but Steve just shrugged it off. Stark was probably worried that the robot had information and did not want it damaged.

"Ugh! Nothing I put in here is working," the man at one of the computers says loudly raising his hands in frustration.

"Maybe you shouldn't keep trying unless you permanently lock us out and activate his fail-safe protocol," Bucky growled indicating with his hands for the agent to leave the computers alone. Steve looked at the screen and was intrigued. The screen read:

 _ **Welcome Back,**_

 _ **Logging in as Captain Handsome**_

 _Password…._

 _ **Enter**_

 _Not you? Click here._

Captain Handsome...it was something Ironman called him once when the hacker left a message to the team a few years ago. Why would the username on the screen be the very same nickname?

Steve did not know what came over him but he found himself typing in his name as a password and hit enter. Suddenly the screen goes black making Steve curse. He stared at the screen angrily because he just ruined all their chances-

Wait? Something was happening. The screen turned back on and opened to a desktop that was neither Windows or IOS. It was not familiar to Steve at all but it looked easy enough to understand. Quickly took out a storage device and moved as many files as he could onto the storage drive before turning off the screen in an attempt to prolong the discovery. Steve was now working for a different team so he would not have access to the information if he did not access it in some way.

Stepping away from the 'broken' computers, Steve moved around the lab continuing taking notes of what he saw and what he read. Clint was buzzing around taking pictures of everything. This place was neat, too neat if you ask Steve. It was a meticulous kind that points to OCD. Everything was in it's place. Steve wrote that observation down.

Steve was constantly watching and observing as the other teams came in to gather intel and evidence after Bucky's team cleared the area and taken down notes of their own.

It just dawned on Steve as he watched people move around that he was finally close to closing in on Ironman. He was going to finally put an end to his reign.

* * *

Steve was dressed in a suit carrying a shoulder bag full of the evidence he collected and the notes he took of the Ironman's base of operations. Steve felt a bit nervous but knew it was alright when Clint came up next to him wearing a purple suit. He looked at his friend and shook his head at his antics; only Clint would wear a ridiculous colored suit on his first day at their new job.

"Couldn't you wear something more...appropriate?" Steve eyed Clint wearily. He did not want to lose their chances with Stark because Clint decided to dress it up.

"What! I dress to impress!" Clint exclaimed.

"Impress who? The circus?" Steve snickered while Clint just gaped at him looking a bit insulted.

They began to bicker a bit as they stood in the lobby of Stark Tower waiting for the woman at the front desk to finish her phone call. She seemed to be taking her time which was stressing Steve out a bit but the bickering helped calm his nerves.

"You actually came!" Stark came bounding out of the elevator farthest from the rest of them. It seemed like it was a personal elevator but that was expected Steve guessed.

"We did," Clint responded standing up straighter. Stark just smiled widely expanding his arms out in greeting. He then guided them towards the elevator he came from. Steve began shooting off questions at Stark about the job details and other amenities.

"So what's this about living spaces?" Clint asked cutting off Steve's next question. Stark blinked at them both before clicking the second to top floor.

"Well, the top nine floors of the tower are living spaces. If you want you can each have your own," Stark replied.

"A whole floor?" Clint's eyes widened in surprise. Steve felt like they were bugging out of his head.

"Yes?" Stark answered with tone of uncertainty. Steve raised an eyebrow at him and just got a blush in response. That surprised Steve but he found that he did not mind it. He actually thought it was...aesthetically pleasing look on Stark's face.

"Wow," Clint just continued to hop around the elevator excitedly. Steve had to thump Clint on the head to get his friend in check. Stark just chuckled softly at their antics.

Stark looked at them with soft eyes when he thought neither of them were looking but Steve noticed. He felt weird seeing that look but did not bring attention to it. He was already on a bad foot with Stark and he did not want to make it worse.

The doors opened and Stark lead them around the floor indicating that every floor except for the penthouse is designed almost exactly the same way. Each floor had two bedrooms with their own bathrooms and closet space as well as a living room and a kitchenette. Stark also mentioned that middle floor was built to be a common room for everyone to use and meet up at if they so pleased.

"When can we move in?" Clint asked obnoxiously.

Stark replied, "after a week if you want. Gives you time to come to a decision about it. You can also tell Romanov and Barnes that they are welcome to come stay here too. I know those two go wherever you do."

"Cool cool...so...you find anything about the, uh, person I asked you to look for?" Clint looked at his feet shyly making Steve wondered who this person was.

"I have nothing yet but I am zeroing in on him," Stark replied, "J, send me all you have on case A.G.3.N.T."

"My pleasure sir," a british voice spoke up making both Steve and Clint jump.

"Who's that?" Clint asked looking up at the ceiling.

"Uh," Stark seemed to look wide eyed as if he had not meant to let that slip, "my PA."

"Isn't Ms. Potts your PA?" Steve asked getting a glare from Stark. The man did not elaborate. He just walked past them and entered the opening elevator doors. Stark leaned on the metal wall looking at Steve and Clint expectantly. Steve dropped the subject fast and climbed into the elevator quickly followed along by Clint who seemed to be afraid of being left behind in an empty apartment floor.

Steve stayed silent throughout the rest of the tour taking everything in. He followed Stark past a bunch of empty desks where he said will be filled up by members of the team Steve picks out if they get the Stark approval which Steve did not think would be too hard to get.

"You already have three people on your team," Stark said as they lead them into a large office space with only one desk sitting in the center. Steve knew this was meant to be his office but he does not see himself spending a lot of time in here unless the rest of his team were to be there with him.

"Bruce is downstairs in the R&D Department, the second is a surprise but you know him very well, and the third well...he's wearing purple so he is kind of hard to miss," Stark gave Clint a half smile before waving goodbye at them and leaving them alone in a large office space too big for the both of them.

"Well, I guess it's time to get a team together," Clint whispered taking off to find a desk he liked in the common space.

"Yeah," Steve whispered back a little too late. He dropped his bag and began to pull everything out. He needed to get started on recruiting as well as start on the evidence and information he and Clint collected while at the Ironman base.

"You know what we should call ourselves?" Clint came bounding in again looking pleased with himself and no longer wearing his jacket. He must have already picked a seat.

"No I don't," Steve played along knowing Clint was going to come up with something tacky.

"Well I was thinking, that we actually take on the name Avengers but dress it up a bit," Clint responds, "We should call ourselves The Ultimate Avengers or Ults for short."

"Ults?" Steve raised an eyebrow. He liked the idea of adopting the nickname that the FBI gave his original team and taking it a step further. It was not necessarily creative but it had a nice ring to it but he was definitely ditching the Ults nicknames. No one would go for that.

The Ultimate Avengers, huh? This was going to lead to something good. Steve could feel it.


	10. Chapter 10: One Step Forward Ten Steps B

It was times like these were Tony wished he had not given up drinking indefinitely. Having to sit in Fury's office and being yelled at for the third time since he started on the Ironman project was not what he called a nice day. Tony wondered why he even bothers to help them. At first he did it because he thought they were doing more good than bad but once that illusion broke, Tony stayed and helped the only team that did a half-decent job at catching bad guys and putting them behind bars.

So now he sat in Fury's office listening to the one-eye go off on a cursing tangent about how he not only took his star agents but also allowed evidence of the base to disappear without being able to figure out the glitch that happened in the evidence storage room. Of course Tony knew about that because he is the one that did the interference. He needed to get his dumbass robot from the clutches of the FBI. He did not need them snooping into his coding or his configurations. Not only was it dangerous because it had Tony's name _everywhere_ but also Dumm-E was one of his babies. The only one who was allowed to mess with any of them was him. So he broke into the evidence storage locker because he could and because it was a little thrilling.

Barnes was there as well but he stood in the darkest corner silent just keeping his eyes on Tony like he expects him to explode at any second. Tony just kept a straight face looking directly into Barnes' eyes. He found him more aesthetically pleasing than Fury so it was not that hard to do it. If the man wasn't a taken douche Tony would have gladly bedded him (and Rogers for that matter) but Tony was not a homewrecker nor was he interested in one-night stands anymore, so he kept his attractions to himself.

"Do you get off on this?" Tony growled out looking at Fury cutting the man off mid sentence, "I swear the only time you ever talk to me is to either insult or blame me. We are not in third grade anymore Fury. I don't have to sit here and be your punching bag. Continue yelling all you want but you don't need to be doing it with me in the room. Come one Barnes we got bad guys to catch."

And with that Tony left Fury's office faster than normal trying hard to get as far away from the man's office as possible. He concluded long ago that one-eye will never be someone who actually does anything substantial without using the resources of other people. All his accomplishment occur from the efforts of others who worked under him. All those medals he's got, all the awards, all the acknowledgements were not his own. Tony hated people that could not get their hands dirty to do the job.

"Yo," Barnes caught up to him pulling on his arm making Tony stop in his tracks. Tony had not realized he was still moving. Tony did not bother to look at Barnes not really in the mood to deal with him and his accusations.

"Six hours," Barnes spoke up making Tony pause in confusion and finally turn to look at the man, "I got a message that says something will happen in six hours and I need your help to stop it. I...I'm not technologically inclined like you or Banner and if this pans out it I would need your help."

"Who sent this message?" Tony asked leaning against the wall he stood next to after Barnes let go of his arms.

"I don't know," Barnes answered, "Though there are sure signs that it could be Ironman."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He did not remember setting anything up this soon but then again a lot has been going on that he could have forgotten that he started something. "Okay. Would you like me to contact Rogers? He could probably look into it as well."

"No," Barnes shot down, "I don't want to risk it. It has to be just us."

"Why? Did the message say to go alone?" Tony pressed trying to take his brain for more information. He needed to know. How can he not remember this step in his planning?

"Again, No. It's just a hunch and I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone. And I would go alone but like I said I'm not tech savvy and could do more harm than help," Barnes replied.

Tony bit the inside of his lip studying the man to see if he was lying but he could tell he wasn't. He should check with JARVIS first but he could not risk Barnes finding out about his AI assistant. At least not yet. Tony knew that the next phase was coming soon he probably just lost track of time. The next stage did involve the FBI and since Rogers was no longer the leader of the Avengers the message would be sent to Barnes.

Barnes waited for Tony to respond so he gave him a curt nod. With that, Barnes began walking towards the lockers to get dressed in their gear. He was almost sure, by the time they got to the lockers, that the next phase of the plan was starting and all the worry left his mind. This was good. Everything was going according to plan.

He could not be more wrong. Soon he will come to regret not taking the risk. Asking JARVIS would have saved them both. Tony just did not know it yet…

* * *

They were in the car. It was a large black SUV with tinted windows, a very nicely functioning heater and the state of the art technology that seemed to be one step behind JARVIS. All in all Tony was impressed. If he was into such cars he would get one himself. Though he knew he was trying to distract from the fact that he was alone in the car with the Avenger that hated him the most. He felt awkward and shy which was odd since he was neither of those things. He just did not feel like...like him. Ugh.

"You're thinkin' too hard," Barnes spoke up bringing Tony back from his racing mind.

"Well, I am a genius," Tony responded, "it's a part of the job description."

"Self-proclaimed," Barnes corrected. Tony just blink at him for a second, "Self-proclaimed genius. You never got yourself tested."

"How do you know that?" Tony exclaimed feeling a small blush, stop it body!, begin to creep up his cheeks.

"It's my job to?" Barnes answered with a question of his own as if he wasn't sure that it was the right answer and Tony found it oddly cute.

"See once you take away the irrational anger we can have a decent conversation without wanting to pull each other's eyes out," Tony commented subconsciously. He felt a spike of worry that he ruined their first normal conversation since Tony had met the man but his partner just gave an easy smile without really turning towards him. Still, Tony knew he put it there and he felt a pang in his chest of a feeling he wasn't really familiar with but it was not a bad feeling at all. That's another score for odd happenings in the past week. Seriously how is the amount of change to occur in a short few days.

"I bet I can sew for violence and get you to design me new eyes that do much more than an average person with 20/20 vision," Barnes snorted and Tony found himself laughing.

"All you have to do is ask buttercup," Tony winked, "I will build you any limb on a discount of course. I need to make money too."

"Yeah cause you don't have enough already," Bucky commented.

"Seriously though," Tony turned serious turning to look at the FBI agent next to him, "why the sudden change of heart?"

"Don't get me wrong Stark, I still hate you I'm just not in the mood to be antagonistic. Plus, I thought I would be nice since you accepted to come with me on this mission. I can easily protect one person but I don't do well in any group bigger than that. It was why Steve and I worked so well cause he handles stress and guilt better than I do and he knows how to hold everyone up without breakin' a sweat. It's easier to focus on the mission than on you so I decided to let it go for the day. Now you makin' me regret it."

Tony should have expected that answer but it does not mean that it did not hurt him all the same. He finally thought he was getting through to Barnes but he guessed this was just a one time occurrence. Tony felt an anger flush through him. Though he was not going to let his guard down around Barnes again. He can't trust a man who would play with people's hopes and feelings like that.

After that a pregnant silence enveloped the occupants of the car as the got closer to the destination. There goes the little progress they made. Tony sure knew how to fuck up everything in his life...well except for Peter of course.

* * *

Tony should have seen it coming. The first sign of danger was the choice of venue that Ironman, him has chosen, because Tony knew for a fact that he had never been here before but he just chocked it up to JARVIS changing the sight location. His AI did so to protect the base of operations. Or create fake ones that is. But still, this did not sit well with him at all and for some unforeseen, and very stupid, reason Tony pushed those feelings away.

Once they approached the building Tony began to get nervous. He felt himself be extra jittery. He knew it was the bad kind; the kind that indicate an impending panic attack. But again, Tony pushed it down.

 _Stark men were made of Iron,_ A voice happily supplied in the back of his mind. Tony felt his instincts of fight or flight stirring right under his skin.

It took another ten seconds for Tony to realize that this place was _not_ an Ironman base. It was a trap. Tony reached out for Barnes knowing something bad was going to happen, "We have to get out of here, Barnes."

"What're you scared of a tiny man who sits behind a computer desk?" Barnes snickered to himself looking straight at Tony with mocking eyes.

If it was any other time Tony would have taken the bait but not this time, "You don't _understand._ This isn't an Ironman base. It's not even in his radar!"

"How would you know? I have been studying the man for years. This place fits the profile to the T," Barnes growled back in annoyance. Tony just shoved the man towards him trying to get him out of the building but Barnes was bigger and he wasn't bulging.

"I know more than you think," Tony spat, "we can have this discussion outside just _move."_ Tony was getting desperate. He felt the need to run but he was not going to leave Barnes alone. That man was his partner, at the moment, and Tony was not the type to abandon his friends or colleagues contrary to popular belief.

"Come on Stark! Ironman is a criminal but not a violent one at that. Hell, he usually just taunts and flaunts about more than anything. Just trust me, okay? If anything gets violent I'll protect you," Barnes tried to reason with Tony but Tony was stubborn so much so that his stubbornness can compete toe to toe with Rogers who is the most stubborn one of them all.

Barnes pulled them both forward and deeper into the building. Tony's nerves were on fire as they walked down the corridor. Barnes still held onto Tony's arm and the man was not sure if he was doing it to be reassuring or making Tony do it whether he liked it or not. He betted on the latter.

They were about to turn into the next hall way when Tony smelt it. Gas. This place was filling up with it. With in a moment Tony took a few steps back using all his body weight to push Barnes with him but it was too late. The building went up in flames and the last thing Tony remembers is feeling being pushed against a wall and landing next to a very heavily bleeding and burnt Barnes. Tony heard slow and meticulous footsteps in the distance.

His world faded to black.


	11. Chapter 11: Going Rogue

**Chapter 11:**

 **Going Rogue**

He heard it from Natasha first. He was sitting in his new office looking through potential applicants when the phone call came in. Steve picked up the phone looking through the window into the other room where Clint and Bruce are sorting through the evidence they were able to get their hands on in their new case. They were putting Ironman on the burner for now letting Bucky and Stark collect more information.

"Hello, Steve Rogers speaking," Steve spoke up first after a moment of silence. It was a tactic used a lot in the FBI, never be the first to talk.

"Steve, it's Natasha. Something happened to Stark and James," she said quietly. If Steve did not know her so well he would probably not have heard the slight strain in her voice.

"What happened?" Steve asked desperately grabbing his jacket and heading out of the room giving a small signal for Bruce and Clint to follow when they gave him questioning looks.

"The local police got a distress call about a bombing in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town and they found an FBI sedan sitting outside," Natasha started and Steve could feel his heartbeat quicken and fear set in.

"Did they find them? Are they okay?" Steve pressed when Natasha stayed silent for too long. It seems like this threw her off game just like it did him. It was hard to one up Bucky and when that happened it was often pretty bad.

"They couldn't find anyone there. Not even bodies. The only reason we know they were there is because whoever took them left their badges and wallets behind. They wanted us to know that they have them," Natasha replied warily knowing that this news might send Steve to the deep end.

Steve reached his car and went to climb into the driver seat instinctually but knew he was too wound up to drive. Before he could get his hand on the handle Clint beat him to it telling him to get in the passenger side seat. He was thankful for that.

"Address?" Clint asks and Steve spits it out quickly as he continues to listen to Natasha's report. Steve needed as much information he could get. It was the only way to get them back.

"Can you call the BAU?" Steve requested when she was done. He wanted every mind trying to find them. Someone out there has a federal agent and a billionaire owner of a tech company who is a genius in his own right. Steve was not worried about Bucky talking but he was not sure how long Stark would hold out. It was important to never give the enemy what they want and Bucky knows that but Stark never got that training.

A million scenarios ran through his head and none accounted for the fact that either one or both of the taken men are dead. Steve would not be able to handle losing Bucky nor does he want Stark dead.

"They just arrived," Natasha confirmed as Clint said they were five minutes out. To Steve, those were the longest and fastest five minutes of his life.

* * *

"Aaron Hotchner," the man stepped up to Steve as he rushed from his car to the group of people in FBI protective gear. Steve has worked with the BAU before but they did it more from a distance. They never really got to meet the BAU team in person.

"Steve Rogers," Steve responded quickly looking around wildly. The building was still standing but looked like it was on the verge of collapsing. Steve saw the smoke rise from the building and figured that the smoke was concentrated from the center making that spot the source of the blast.

"You know the victims?" Hotchner asked Steve while Steve just silently studied the damage and trying to find any clue that could help them in any way.

"One is my partner the other is my new boss," Steve answered immediately.

"Are you willing to answer some questions? It could help us get them back faster," Hotchner asked and a large part of Steve wanted to stay but he knew he would be more help answering their questions first. He could use it as a chance to exchange information.

"Alright," Steve agreed and followed two agents to find a more isolated area to talk.

"So," The agent who introduced himself as Derek Morgan, "Let's get started shall we?"

Steve nodded and they began to rain down their questions. Steve knew a lot. His team had a lot of enemies and although their current big case was Ironman but he vehemently shot the idea that the hacker was behind this. Steve knew how the man worked and this was not his style. At all.

"Well, he's used to being the center of attention," Morgan tried, "maybe he snapped that you began focusing on other cases that weren't him."

"If that were so he would have done this years ago. Ironman demands attention through sabotage and theft. He likes to play but it never hurt anyone physically. Ever," Steve grounded out. A part of him wondered why he was defending a wanted man but he knew that it was a waste of time to chase down the wrong man.

"He could escalate to physical harm when he thinks that hitting people financially is no longer enough," Dr. Reid countered making Steve want to secretly pull his hair out.

"I have been on this man's case for years," Steve started, "Ironman has an agenda that never included human casualties. He has a detailed plan on what he wants to happen and when it will happen. Why change now? He's been consistent from the beginning. He operates in an organized chaos that we have not been able to lock down his pattern yet but it's his signature. I would appreciate it if we step away from a person who probably has nothing to do with this case. My partner and an innocent man has been taken and focusing on the wrong man is doing them no favors!"

"Sir, calm down," Morgan placed his hand on Steve's shoulder and Steve had a strong urge to shove him off.

"He will if you get your dingy hands off him," Clint growled, "Let's explore the other options as well. This was a lot of work for one man to come up with so it could be a group of people. It's also hard for one man to take two adult males out of a burning building minutes before the firefighters and the police show up."

"So more than one unsub," Dr. Reid nodded, "It makes sense. There is no way that one unsub could have taken them. It's physically impossible. I did the calculations and it just doesn't add up."

"So we profile based on that information," Hotchner said before thanking Steve and his team's help.

"We're not going anywhere," Clint crossed his arms, "so stop acting like we are about to leave."

"If you have any more information to provide then go ahead if not, please let us do our job," the blond agent who introduced herself as Jennifer Jareau spoke.

"I was an FBI agent for six years and before then a sharpshooter in the army," Clint bit back, "I can tell you that I can also do this job as well. The group who took Stark and Bucky obviously have a vendetta against us. We are the best source material to finding them so stop trying to get rid of us."

"There is no use in arguing here," Bruce spoke up for the first time as the tension between the two groups began to rise, "This is doing both of them no favors and we can use each other's expertise to get them back faster."

Clint looked down in shame while Steve felt himself want to cry but held it back pretty well. The BAU just looked at each other before looking to Hotchner for confirmation. The man just nodded at Steve indicating that they could join them, "the more people the better."

"That isn't necessarily true," Dr. Reid butted in but was elbowed by Morgan making him cut his point short.

* * *

They have been at it for three days and they have gotten nowhere. Steve's mind was reeling trying to figure out what they have been missing. He was sitting in an FBI office in a secluded area trying to come up with any leads by himself. He needed peace to think sometimes and the atmposphere outside was not helping so he moved into this room.

"We got something," Morgan stepped into the room looking coolly at him, "we would like to know if you recognize this."

Steve took the file from Morgan's hands and began to swiftly brush through it and was surprised to find a message from Ironman that was anything but authentic. It was good enough fake to fool Bucky but Steve spent countless hours studying Ironman's words and playful messages. This was not the same and it was just one small part that was inconsistent that only he knew.

"Now are you still not convinced that your hacker is our unsub?" Morgan asked while placing his finger on the page as if this was proof. Steve just shut the file and threw it in the bin.

"It's. Not. Him." Steve pronounced every word with vindictiveness.

"How are you not seeing this! We asked your other two teammates and they validated it. It's him. Now tell me what you know so we can help catch this guy and whoever he's working with while bringing back your partner and boss," Morgan tried but Steve just got up from his spot to look out the window.

"From all my team members I was the one who Ironman talked to the most. So much so that any message he sent us as a group was addressed to me," Steve started but was cut off by the other man.

"This was addressed to you," Morgan began to look confused which made Steve smile a bit. Good, now he can stop acting like he has all the answers.

"Read the addressing line to me Morgan, please," Steve requested. Morgan took the file from the bin and read:

"Best regards Captain Spangles,

IM 3. What's wrong with it? We read other messages he sent it's similar to the rest."

"Ironman always for the past two years and a half has called me Captain Handsome every time he addressed me. Not once has he jumped skipped over it. Changed it. No it's been the same MO since we started our little dance. Like I said it's a small mix up in the wording that my teammates have overlooked because he never actually outwardly puts the two together unless it's a message he sent to only me. This was sent to Bucky. They would know that Ironman would have acted much colder as the nickname would never have been added in the first place if he sent it to him instead. Conclusion it's fake," Steve replied.

Morgan stayed quiet and contemplated Steve's response and reasoning. It seems like he was making a decision and the moment he got up and bit Steve farewell he knew that he and his team became suspects.

Great. Now he just made it harder on his teammates but he knew none of them were behind this so he was not too concerned. Still, this was going to be annoying having to work while under suspicion. Steve was willing to do anything to get the two missing men back alive. Even if it meant breaking the law.

Clint and Bruce walked into the room with dark looks and Steve knew that they got the same vibe as him. Guess it was time to go rogue. They have only ever done so a handful of times but it got the job done. Bucky and Stark needed them at their full capacity and that means going against the law to get information more quickly.

"We're going rogue," Steve spoke up after he saw Natasha slip in, "you know what to do."

"With pleasure," Clint replied while Natasha and Bruce nodded in response.

They were going to find them but Steve hoped that it was not too late.


	12. Chapter 12: Unbroken

**Chapter 12:**

 **Unbroken**

Bucky woke up to blurry vision, screaming and pain. Everything on his left side hurt. Like a lot. It was hard to focus on anything but the moment he opened his eyes he wildly searched his surroundings to find himself strapped to a cot with a figure being forced down a bit away from him and as his vision cleared he realized that it was Stark. He instinctively reached out but his right arm was restrained and his left refused to listen.

"S-Stark," Bucky croaked out but his unused voice was drowned out by Stark's pain-filled screams. After a few moments, Bucky grew frustrated and wanted so badly to help. To save Stark from whatever they were doing to him.

Bucky thrashed one more time before looking to his left arm...or where his left arm was supposed to be. A panic began to build in his mind as he tried to search for his missing limb. There was no way. No way. No way. His arm could not be gone. It must be the pain. He has to be hallucinating.

"You have to stop moving," a voice said and Bucky turned to look at a man who seemed to be of Afghani origins.

"What?" Bucky asked still a bit dazed as he tried to move towards the man.

"Stop moving," the voice ordered softly, "I am trying to save 's life. Just be patient. I have already closed your wounds and bandaged you up."

"S-Stark, Stark, Star…k," and Bucky's world went black.

* * *

The next time Bucky awoke he could still feel the pain but it had dulled to a background hum in his mind. He prepared himself for what he was about to see but, unlike last time, the room was silent except for a low buzz of electricity and quiet murmuring nearby. Bucky's eyes shot open looking for Stark in desperation. He needed to know that he was fine. That his partner was alive and okay. This whole situation was his whole fucking fault. If he had just listened to Stark they would not be here now, if there was still a _we._

"I see you are up," a familiar voice spoke up looking up from his book that he was reading. Bucky could see that it was not in English but either Afghani or Arabic. He studied the man as he tried, and successfully, sat up on his cot trying to take in his surroundings while looking for Stark at the same time. He found the other man laying in a cot next to him with _wires coming out of his chest that connected to a car battery._ He reached out to touch the unconscious man in an attempt to validate that he was still alive. His hand spread over Stark's chest and let out a breath he did not know he was holding. As he felt Stark's chest rise and fall he noticed that there was something _embedded_ in Stark's chest. He furrowed his eyebrows looking at the other man in the room in confusion.

"It's an electromagnet. It's keeping the shrapnel from entering his chest," The man said while putting the book he was reading down.

"What's 'at?" Bucky asked looking at the bandaged chest.

"I would rather wait until the patient woke up to explain," the man replied, "Ho Yensin."

"...James," Bucky answered taking the man's hand to shake.

"I know," he said giving Bucky a firm shake before sitting back in his chair. Bucky placed his hand back on Stark's chest. The man's breathing calmed him a bit.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Stark woke up gasping and coughing looking around in fear. Bucky moved back putting distance between him and the other man. He refused to allow Stark to know that he was worried about him.

Bucky just watched as Stark felt the wires on his chest and saw the panic color the man's face. He stayed silent just watching as Stark ripped at the bandages in a panic. He wanted to grab his hands to calm him but he held back his urge. Instead, Yensin moved slowly into Stark's space to talk him out of his panic. The doctor, or the assumed doctor, began to explain to Stark what happened. Turns out a water tank had exploded and some parts of the metal had entered his body but he could not extract them all so he had to install his own tech into Stark's chest to protect him from the remaining shrapnel.

Stark finally cleared the bandages and there sat a large cylindrical object sitting in the center of his chest. It was ugly, clunky and heavy looking. Bucky studied it a bit before looking at Stark's face. The man looked pained and calculating. He seemed to be trying to decide whether or not to rip it off or not. A sinister thought passed through his mind that _Stark deserves this._ The thought sent a wave of nausea through him because no one. _No one_ Deserves this. Not even the egomaniac.

"It's hideous," Were the first words out of Stark's mouth as he gingerly placed his hand on it.

"It's keeping you alive," Yensin looked unfettered by Stark's comment.

"I-" Stark started when the door slammed open and in marched militants wearing heavily guarded gear as if they were in an active war zone. They had guns and were raising them towards them. Bucky shot up instinctively and pulled Stark behind him putting him in front of the danger.

"Welcome," a figure walked in behind the crazed group with more grace and an air of calmness that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Listen here fuck-" Bucky elbowed Stark before he could finish that statement.

"My my what they say about the Stark mouth is very true," the man smiled but it looked wrong to Bucky, "you should be lucky that I am in a merciful mood or I would have your tongue cut out."

He stiffened and he could feel Stark freeze a bit. It seems to have dawned on the man that this was not a typical kidnapping. Bucky needed Stark to stay quiet. He could not save them if he decided to act up.

"It finally seems to dawn on you that I am not like any other kidnapper," the man said in a slow almost. Prefer tone, "you are here for reason. Though do not think for a second that I won't and can't kill you. If you do what I ask this experience will be almost painless but if not I can make this a living hell for you."

"Yeah," Stark growled behind Bucky, "you aren't the first to demand I do work for you nor will you be the last. What makes you different?"

Bucky really wanted to punch Stark in the face, "I guess you will see." With that, the man turned and left the room but the militants stayed behind. Bucky just knew something bad was going to happen. He prepared himself to fight looking behind him to see Stark looking around determinedly. It never crossed Bucky's mind that this man was too calm for this to be the first time being kidnapped. It should not be anyone's normal but it seemed for this man it was. He looked for too long because the next moment he was doubled over in pain as someone hit him on his left shoulder _hard._ The wound was not fully healed and having it being hot at full thrust hurt.

While he was incapacitated, two goons grappled Stark and pulled him from his protection and dragged him to the opening the door and Bucky was scared that they were going to separate them. Well, he was until another set of arms grabbed him forcing his hand behind his back and forcing him forward.

He was being dragged but he did not make exactly easy for them by dragging his feet and forcing them to take on most of his weight. It was a small gesture but a gesture nonetheless.

They took them both to a room that looked to be filled with unpleasant instruments that seemed to have seen a lot of blood and pain over the years. It was dirty and crowded but Bucky could recognize enough of the items to know that this was going to a horrible experience.

"Well you haven't even asked me for my safe word yet boys," Stark snarked before being slapped hard enough to drop him and his car battery to the floor. Bucky struggled a bit in his guards hold but damn they knew how to restrain pretty well.

The men yelled at Stark in a language Bucky didn't know but it sounded German he was not really paying attention. He just watched Stark throw more snarky comments their way and Bucky wanted to yell at him to just shut up. Bucky felt something lock in his legs and one arm before he felt a tug forcing him, too, onto his knees.

Then there was nothing for a few moments but heavy breathing but Stark just turned his head slightly to look at Bucky his eyes shined something he could not understand before he turned back to look at the man and said, "well jackass are you as tough as you would like to pretend to be or is it really all show?" Another punch before one of them dragged Stark by the hair forward to a large bowl that seemed to be filled with some kind of liquid. Bucky opened his mouth to shout but a cloth was shoved into his opened mouth stopping him from speaking but it could not stop him from making muffled shouts of protest. He fought the restraints forcing himself forward falling hard onto the rough cement floor. He knew it was useless but he was cursing himself for not fighting harder.

Now all he can do is watch as the dunk Stark's head into the bowl and sparks flying off to the side as the device in his chest met the liquid that Bucky guessed was water. He kept trying to break out and shout at them. _Pick me. Use me. I'm trained for this. Please._ But they completely ignored his existence. Still, he forced himself to watch. To watch as they pulled Stark's head out just long enough to breathe in some air before being forced back into the water. _Stop. It's my fault. Attack me. Stark isn't built for this._

They kept at it ignoring his silent pleas. He watched as it got harder and harder for Stark to catch his breath. After for what felt like an eternity they finally stopped throwing Stark onto the floor near Bucky's head. The man landed hard causing him to lose the little air he was able to breathe in. Bucky let out a muffled cry just watching Stark breathe in gulps of air so hard they were audible harsh gasps. It was hard to see but Bucky shifted to attempt to get closer to the man who was suffocating on air.

Bucky watched as Stark finally regained his control of his lungs he looked over and gave Bucky a weak smile. Stark just whispered, "I guess we better buckle up for the long haul. Don't worry sourplum...I've...been through...worse." And Bucky saw Stark's world fade than black.

How was this man still not broken? How can he still smile? How was this man real? He didn't need him feigning strength. He didn't need Stark to be the strong one. _He needed Stark to come out okay._

* * *

 ** _A/N: I tend to forget to update this website so you guys get two chapters for the price of one! So sorry for the delay! Hope you like it! Let me know what you think!_**


	13. Chapter 13: The Captain and His Rogues

**A/N: I am so sorry! I had thought I updated the story on FF but just realized that I had not D: I am so sorry! Hopefully, you enjoy this chapter! :D**

* * *

Chapter 13:

The Captain and His Rogues

Steve was about to burn it to the ground. He had not realized how fucking annoying the FBI could be when they are working against you rather than for you. It seemed that Fury did not like Steve's little revolt and taking away his last best agent. Steve did not care. All he cared about was getting Bucky and Stark home safe and _alive._

It was a little-known fact that Steve was not always on the right side of the law. Hell, none of the Avengers were. Back then they were called the rogues and they went after criminals with their own two hands. The law almost never worked when they needed it too. The only reason Steve and his group joined the FBI was the prospect that they could change that. But now Steve could see that when push comes to shove the government and it's laws let him down.

Being away from the FBI helped show him that there was something wrong with the organization. Something heinously wrong. They have been infested with a criminal organization called Hydra that Steve and his team had been trying to get snuff out for years, longer than they have been after Ironman. It made Steve feel disgusted with himself. It felt like everything he had done over the years seemed tainted and ruined. All the good he had done seemed to account for nothing because all his cases were somehow linked to that damn organization. He had been used. They all had been used. But now Steve knew. Now he was going to make sure that they paid in kind for everything that they did.

Steve was The Captain now. He was back on the streets and getting his name back to its original glory before he joined the FBI. It was important to make yourself top dog in the criminal world for you to turn heads and that is exactly what Steve was doing. Though this time around his job was harder. Not only because he did not have his second in command but also the fact that he was trying to get him back. It made Steve reckless. Bucky was always the one that pulled him back. Reigned Steve in when he was going too far. But now...but now Steve was loose with no one to hold him back. So he unleashed his anger, his frustration on the those he interrogated and caught. He made them spill their secrets and take them so close to death's doors only to draw them back and discard them. Steve never takes anyone's life but most who have faced him wish they he did. Death was too kind to those scum.

"Steve," Natasha came into his office that they set up in an abandoned building in Brooklyn. They did not want to put Stark and his company at risk for hosting a criminal group of 'vigilantes'. Steve turned to his temporary second hand with a dark and cold look. If Natasha was not so well trained she would have shivered in fear.

"Yes Natalia," Steve responded slowly. He only ever called her Natalia when he was in deep into his Captain headspace.

"We found another lead," Natasha spoke up giving him a cat-like smile, "he says he knows where the boys are."

"He better not be lying," Steve growled, "It has been almost three months. I…" Steve stopped and shook his head as if chastising himself for showing any weakness. Natasha pretended she had not seen it and for that Steve was thankful.

"For both our sakes and his that he is not," Natasha responded before stepping aside for Steve to go out of the office first. Steve grabbed his favorite black leather gloves that he used especially when he was about to release himself on someone else. They helped him disconnect with the moral part of himself. They were like a barrier between him and the brutality of his actions.

If Steve were a weaker man he would feel remorse or guilt for doing the things that he does. He was a master at brute strength and torture by the time he was twenty making him the most sought-after man in New York and Brooklyn. It was only when he made a slight error did he get caught by Fury and his dogs and had been forced into the world of the FBI to avoid prison for him and his friends. Steve had almost forgotten this part of his life. He did not necessarily miss it but he missed being able to be in control and being able to pass judgment on others when they so clearly deserved it.

Steve walked into the badly lit room slowly. He wanted to assess the man that they brought him. He needed to know what was the best method to get this man talking. Steve knew using brute strength was not going to budge this guy. Guess it was going to be mind games with this one. "Your name," Steve requested as he took a seat across from the chained up man.

"So you're the man people are now calling The Captain," the man laughed. His accent was not from around here if he knew his accents well enough he would say that man was from Siberia.

"I have always been The Captain," Steve responded while crossing his legs and folding his hands on his thighs looking casual, "but that is not important. Do you or do you not know where my friends are? If I find out you are wasting my time I would hesitate to end you."

"You and I both know you don't take lives," the man smiled showing his crooked teeth, "so your threat is, how do you say, ah, empty."

"A person meeting their end does not necessarily mean death," Steve threatened and the man's smile slipped only a little.

"I do know where your 'friends' are. They are being held by Hydra," the man's menacing smile came back in full force as he revealed the small tidbit of information. Cold water ran through Steve's veins at the thought that Hydra has Bucky and Stark. It made sense seeing as the FBI has made little to no progress in finding the two missing men and have been trying hard to hinder Steve's own investigation.

He was angry at himself for not seeing this sooner, "So you say Hydra has them but you do not know exactly where?"

"They are being held somewhere outside the city but close enough for the leader to get to and from the location," the man pressed on, "I may not know exactly where but I bet you can figure it out faster than I could."

Steve just watched the man smile at him for a few minutes before slowly getting up and leaving the man alone. He walked out to see Natasha standing there with a hot cup of coffee and an angry look in her eyes. Steve studied her a moment before she turned and began to lead them both to where the others were.

Over the course of their investigation, the number of people who have joined their cause seemed to have grown. They seemed to come in succession the first of whom was Sam. The man came looking angry and afraid asking Steve to tell him that Bucky was okay and, for some odd reason, if Stark was alright too. Steve had told Sam the truth, that Steve did not know and it would be foolish of them to think that they were.

Steve opened the door and spotted someone new sitting at the table. This man was straight-cut kind of guy who looked like he just came from an army military base. He looked like he had not rested in a long while and at the same time looked more put together than a lot of the people in the room. Steve would feel threatened if he did not trust Natasha explicitly and know she would not bring anyone in if they did not check out.

Once Steve was fully in the room and closing the door the new guy stood up and stepped towards Steve with a determined look and purpose in his step. Steve knew that this man was on a mission and that he would not stop until it was finished. Steve wondered what that mission was.

"Steve Rogers," Steve offered his hand for the man to shake.

The man took it after a beat and replied, "Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Air Force. I heard you been looking for Tony and your friend. I have been looking on my own trying to use my connections in the army but I keep finding myself hitting constant dead ends. I...I just want to find my friend Mr. Rogers. I won't get in your way or rat you out. I would do anything to get Tony back home."

"Take a seat Colonel we won't stop you from helping your friend," Steve placed his hand on the man's shoulders, "We both want the same thing so putting our efforts together can get us to the destination a lot faster."

Rhodes nodded and took his seat next to Clint on the other end of the table. After making sure the man was comfortable back where he was, Steve told the group of what their prisoner had told him. He made it clear that he did not fully trust the words of the Siberian man but they sounded like they were somewhat true. Steve watched the group begin to discuss different ideas and opinions and try to figure out if what the man said was true, where the facility he was talking about could be located. Steve was trying to see if he remembered if the FBI had any buildings out of town but nothing came to mind. He was usually good at remembering this stuff but then again he had been working for the FBI for years without seeing that it was being controlled by Hydra. He did not trust himself and his observation skills much at the moment.

"There are a few abandoned underground bunkers in the north," Rhodes broke in after a few minutes of debating had been taking place. His words cut into the room like a knife causing everyone to shut up.

"Bunkers?" Clint looked at Rhodes disbelievingly, "Why? And how do you know that?"

"After the Manhattan project came to fruition, the government officials began to build bunkers in case of nuclear bomb threats. I did some research on it for a history paper while at MIT. Tony...Tony and I were trying to figure out better safety measures for nuclear threats and I was responsible for looking at current systems and plans in place and I happened to stumble upon the idea of the bunkers," Rhodes answered looking a little sad and stressed after he mentioned Stark's name. Steve could understand how the man felt. He got the same way anytime he says or hears Bucky's name. All in all, Clint and the rest seemed to have accepted the man's response and got back to discussing ideas and strategies using the bunkers as their base point.

At the end of the discussion, they had all figured out their roles when Steve received a phone call. Steve looked at the screen to see that the caller ID was unknown. Steve almost never answered his phone when he did not know who was calling but for some reason, he answered this call anyway. "Hello," Steve greeted. There was silence on the other end of the line. Steve was about to hand up when finally someone spoke up on the other end.

"Stevie," a familiar voice croaked making Steve freeze in place, "I...we need your help...please."


	14. Chapter 14: Live Free or Die

Chapter 14:

Live Free or Die

Tony watched as the miniature arc reactor light up with a pensive look on his face. He could feel Bar-James and Yensin stand over his shoulder in anticipation. Slowly they were showered in blue light as the reactor started up. "What is it?" Yensin asked.

Tony gave a small smile before replying, "that, Yensin, is a miniaturized arc reactor. I got a big one powering my factory back home."

"Damn," Ba-James whispered a bit awestruck leaning in closer to get a better look. Tony picked up the small reactor in his hands and held it up for the other two to see before moving to his cot. Yensin followed right behind him while B-James stayed back a bit before moving.

"You going to hold my hand while he changes out this chunk of metal for my latest work of art or just stand there and gawk?" Tony teased James who just chuckled before taking a seat on the small cardboard box near Tony's cot. They didn't touch but having James close helped ease his anxiety.

"Hold still," Yensin warned as he reached slowly to undoing the car battery cables and delicately removing the electromagnet from Tony's chest. Tony forced himself to look up at the ceiling not wanting to see the gaping hole in his chest. Instead, he focused on the sounds and touches as Yensin plugged the reactor into his chest. When Yensin pressed the reactor into his chest, Tony felt a jolt course through his body causing him to grunt.

"You okay?" Ba-James asked Tony after hearing the grunt moving closer to hold his hand. The contact made him feel a bit better. They seem to be doing that a lot lately, the touching. Tony thinks it's just reassurance for the other that they are both alive and functioning.

"Yeah," Tony replied before swinging his legs off the cot to sit up right and look at his chest for the first time since he unbandaged it. The reactor hummed and shined a soft blue light across his chest making him feel more open but less vulnerable. This would last him until he, no, they got back.

Tony had been coming up with an escape plan from the start. He watched, learned and figured out their captors routines and intelligence level. If they do this carefully, they can do it right. First, he had to build the weapons and armor he was thinking about. Nothing fancy, just something he could use to get him, James and Yensin out of here. So Tony sketched, calculated and coded on the sucky laptop their captors handed him a while ago. It was hard to keep track of time in this hell hole. Though James seemed to know every time Tony asked. Tony let him be the keeper of their time. It let him focus on other things instead.

Once the designs finished and after their round of torture, Tony set to work. He asked James to keep watch and prepare his own tools that he would like to use while Tony asked Yensin for help. And so they went to work. Making sure to keep their little trinkets get hidden away whenever the leader decided to visit them. The man every time asked Tony to help him build his goons weapons to help their organization and every time Tony refused. It seemed like the man was starting to get annoyed but surprisingly he showed up less and less.

Their only way out was soon. Tony could feel it. His little toys were almost done and Barnes looked just about ready as well. Tony had also built something for Yensin to use. He needed that man to survive. He needed all of them to survive. But what really pushed him to go further to get this done was Peter. His smiling face shined in his mind every time he closed his eyes even for a second. He was close to returning back to his son. His beautifully brilliant son.

"Hey Tony," they started calling each other by name after four days in this hell hole, "if we escape it has to be soon."

Tony turned to look at the worried expression on James' face before replying, "in two days. I need to build the door explosives. Once those are done I will set up my trinkets. We will get out of this. All of us."

James just nodded before going to talk to Yensin about the final touches that they needed to finish. Tony picked up the small weapon he had made for Yensin and gave it one last check before he handed it over. Nothing could go wrong. Nothing…

But it did. It all went wrong. Tony was not ready to watch Yensin get gunned down trying to buy Tony and Bucky time to get out. Tony yelled Yensin's name trying to get to the bleeding man but was pulled away by James forcing them towards the exit. They had one shot. And if they stayed they would end up like Yensin. Still Tony struggled half heartedly as James pulled him down the hall a few more steps until Yensin was no longer in sight. Tony wanted to curse and hit James for abandoning Yensin even though he knew why he did it.

"I'm out," James growled throwing the stolen gun away from them as he moved down the hall as the captors rounded the corner and began shooting at them. Tony raised his arms and shot at the door blowing it off its hinges.

Tony saw daylight for the first time in since they got here. The light was harsh and almost unnatural to his eyes. Tony didn't dwell on the momentary blindness, instead, Tony took out his last explosive that was devastating but small. He had discovered this dangerous combo by accident a few months back and had recreated it as best he could in the cave. Tony took the small but very explosive device from his pocket threw it into the building and hit it with accuracy he did not know was in him.

"RUN," James shouted at Tony grabbing his hand and moved them away from the blast radius as fast as he could. They were still hit by the last of the blast but it was nothing they could not handle.

James looked back at the building to see if anyone had survived and when nothing happened, James thrusted them off the ground and began to move as fast as they could into the forest. They needed to get out of there as fast as they could.

They had escaped. Tony wanted to cry.

* * *

It took them three days in the forest to find themselves a road. It took them two hours to signal down a car and fifteen minutes to get to the nearest station. Tony was tired, exhausted but too jacked up on fear and anxiety to calm down even a little. James held Tony close at all times using his larger bulk to cover him in hope that if someone attacked them he would get the brunt of the blow.

Three months ago, Tony was sure James would leave him to save his own ass. Guess being torture buddies changed their perspectives of each other.

"I will buy a pay phone," James announced forcing Tony behind a bush near the station they were dropped off at, "once I get it...I will call Steve."

"Do you think he's still looking for us?" Tony asked looking hopeful at James who just gave him a short but reaffirming nod. Tony wanted to believe that Rogers would not abandon James. Those two were lucky to have a love like that. He wished he could be a part of that. But it would never happen. Rogers and James had each other, they did not need Tony a broken older man in their lives.

Still, it made his chest feel warm and fuzzy seeing James turn to look at the bushes as if to reassure himself that Tony was still there. That he was still okay. He had this for a second. Once they were back with Rogers and co. James would forget about him. Maybe it was better that way.

"Good going Stark," Tony growled to himself, "you fool."

"Who's the fool?" Tony jumped at James' voice whispering in his ear as the man sat down next to him to lean on the tree.

"No one," Tony shrugged hoping James would drop it and luckily for him he did.

Ton watched James take out the heinous pay phone that he had bought wanting nothing but hurl it into the nearest pool of water. Still, he was never more happy to see such a crappy piece of technology in his life at the same time. He was torn two ways. "Stop looking like you are going to have a stroke," James commented smirking a bit as Tony looked away from the _thing_ and back at James with a half-hearted glare.

"It is scorching my iris'," Tony huffed before turning away to look at the distance. He could feel his body begin to give. He was growing tired. There was only so long his body could ignore the burning need to sleep.

And so he did, trusting James to protect him. He had no doubt now that the man next to him would do just that. The last thing Tony heard before he fell into slumber was one word, "Stevie."

* * *

It felt like only a few minutes when he awoke but it had been some time since he woke up in a different place than he fell asleep in. Tony looked around worriedly before he saw James sitting at the window of the building they were staying in. He had no idea how they got here but it seems that James found it safe to hide them away in.

"Hey," Tony greeted getting up from his spot.

"Morning," James responded standing up and walking up to Tony to check him over, "you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Tony replied studying James himself, "you?"

"I'm fine," James answered him back. Tony was tempted to check for himself but refrained from doing so.

"So what's the plan?" Tony asked James coming to stand at the window. There was nothing but forest and a small path that leads to the building they were staying at.

"Steve is coming," James said looking out the window as well, "or at least I hope he is. I gave him the coordinates to our location. We didn't talk long. I couldn't risk it."

"So we're safe?" Tony's voice sounded so small.

"I...I hope so," James answered softly. For the first time since they escaped they touched. This time though They seemed to tighten their hold and drew each other closer.


End file.
